We are seeing an unprecedented and powerful movement to reform Pennsylvania’s charter school law building throughout the commonwealth.

Click HERE to sign up for updates from Education Voters of PA and join the movement!

This week, school leaders from 30 school districts in five counties in southeastern Pennsylvania held a press conference in Montgomery County at the same time that superintendents from districts in Huntingdon, Juniata, Fulton, and Mifflin Counties held one in central PA.  

They delivered the same message: We cannot wait any longer for charter school reform that will address skyrocketing costs and serious financial and academic accountability issues in Pennsylvania’s 20-year-old charter school law.

Urban, suburban, and rural school leaders spoke with a united voice because Pennsylvania’s broken charter school law negatively impacts every school district in the commonwealth from tiny Forbes Road in Fulton County (student population 384) to the School District of Philadelphia, which educates more than 200,000 students.  

As the Lewistown Sentinel reports, Mifflin County superintendent, Jim Estep stated,

“Your tax dollars from all 67 counties in this commonwealth have enabled profiteers and CEOs from what is now a multibillion dollar industry to purchase things like 10,000 square foot mansions in Palm Springs, private planes, lavish trips to luxury resorts and other perks that none of us in this room will ever experience in our lifetimes,” he said.

“I’m fed up. I’m fed up with struggling every year to make a budget balanced. I’m fed up with worrying about how I can maintain the programs that matter for Mifflin County’s parents and kids. I’m fed up with having to worry about cutting teaching positions and increasing class size to make a balanced budget….”

Read more about these events and learn what other school leaders had to say in the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Notebook, and the Delco Daily Times.

State lawmakers are listening.

On Tuesday, January 21^st, House Education Committee Chairman, Rep. Curtis Sonney, held a hearing on House Bill 1897.  This legislation would create a new system of cyber education in Pennsylvania by requiring each school district to offer a choice of three cyber options to district students. The bill creates competition, improves accountability, reduces costs to districts, and would result in a vastly improved system of cyber education for Pennsylvania students. (We will have more on this proposal soon).

Back in October, we were invited by Senate Education Committee Chair, Senator Wayne Langerholc, to testify at a Senate Education Committee hearing about cyber charter schools.

And Governor Wolf has expressed his support for charter school reform since the summer.

In the upcoming weeks, we expect to see serious proposals for charter school funding and accountability reforms that will need our support. Please stay tuned!

In the meantime, Governor Wolf will present his proposed 2020-2021 budget to the legislature next week on Tuesday, February 4^th.

As part of its monthly “Lunch and Learn” webinars, the PA Schools Work campaign will be hosting a webinar about this proposal.

Click HERE to register for the PA Schools Work webinar on Tuesday, February 11 from 12:00-12:30 pm that will explain what Governor Wolf’s proposed budget means for public K-12 schools.

This is an exciting time in Pennsylvania for public education supporters. Thank you for your continued support of PA’s public school students.

Click HERE to sign up for updates from Education Voters of PA and join the movement to reform Pennsylvania’s charter school law.