The Wolf Administration, under authority granted in law, is promulgating regulations to clarify elements in Pennsylvania’s Charter School Law to improve accountability, equity, quality, and transparency.

And we need your help to make sure that these regulations are approved and enacted!

These regulations are the result of a long and thoughtful process that began in August of 2019, when draft regulations were posted on the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s website and stakeholders were invited to submit comments. More than 50 comments were submitted, including a March 11, 2021 letter from the Pennsylvania Coalition for Public Charter Schools (PCPCS), whose aims were addressed in the regulations.

The proposed regulations are now posted on the Independent Regulatory Review Commission’s (IRRC) website, where stakeholders are again being asked to provide public comment.

Education Voters of PA enthusiastically supports these regulations. They would take a step toward ensuring that charter schools are equitably and inclusively educating all students. They would also ensure that charters are held to the same ethics, financial, and auditing standards as school districts.

Please find a summary of the regulations below.

We are very strongly encouraging individuals to submit comments in favor of these proposed regulations before the October 18^th deadline. The charter industry is marshalling opposition to these regulations and we need to demonstrate public support for these commonsense measures.

You may write your own comments and submit them by emailing them to: RA-EDCharterRegs@pa.gov Your email will be posted verbatim on the website. Your comments can be very short—even just a sentence or two stating that you support the proposed regulations.

Or–if you would like some assistance crafting comments, please click HERE to fill out this form and Katja or I will be in touch soon to help!

Key talking points:

• I have followed the charter school issue for a long time and have been concerned with issues of accountability, equity, quality, and transparency in the charter sector. I support these regulations.
• I believe that there needs to be more clarity in Pennsylvania’s charter school law and support these regulations.
• Families have longstanding concerns about some charter schools’ admissions practices. I support these regulations, which create transparency and clarity on charter schools’ enrollment processes.
• A rigorous and standardized charter application process will allow charter authorizers to hold prospective charter schools to high academic, fiscal, and administrative standards and help authorizers ensure charter schools are prepared to equitably serve all students.
• These regulations will bring clarity to the law and help to make charters more transparent and ethical.
• Charter admissions policies should be publicly posted and discriminatory enrollment practices should be ended to ensure that all students have equal access to charter school education. Charter schools are public schools, after all. The proposed regulations benefit students and ensure that students will not be discriminated against based on intellectual or physical ability or disability
• Charter schools are public schools. It is past time for the trustees of these schools to be held to basic ethical standards and to disclose and abstain from any conflicts of interest. It is also past time for the clarification of penalties for individuals who violate the public trust and use their position as a public school trustee for personal financial gain. 
• Charter schools are expected to receive $3 billion in tax dollars in 2020-2021. It is past time for these public schools to follow generally accepted standards of fiscal management and audit requirements.

PLEASE NOTE: Funding and other important reforms to Pennsylvania’s Charter School Law cannot be made through the regulatory process. These changes will need to be made through legislation passed by the General Assembly. Ed Voters will continue to advocate for legislative changes to the CSL.

SUMMARY OF PROPOSED CHARTER SCHOOL REGULATIONS

Application requirements

Requires applicants seeking to operate a charter school to apply using a form created by the Department or similar application developed by the authorizing school district (p. 5)

• The application must include detailed data on students it intends to serve, governance structure, curriculum and assessment strategies, and Code of Conduct.
• It also clarifies that cyber charters must meet the same application requirements and use the form created by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Ed Voters’ note:  A rigorous and standardized charter application process will allow charter authorizers to hold prospective charter schools to high academic, fiscal, and administrative standards and help authorizers ensure charter schools are prepared to equitably serve all students.

Enrollment

• Clarifies that all children in Pennsylvania are eligible for admission to a charter school.
• If more students apply to a charter school than number of slots available, then students are selected on a random basis.
  • Details requirements for random selection process and must be included in application.
  • Requires enrollment data to be published annually on a charter school’s website (p.15).
  • Requires random selection process to be posted on the school’s website in a manner that is access to families with limited English proficiency and disabilities.
  • Similar guidelines are established for cyber charter schools.

Ed Voters’ note: Charter admissions policies should be publicly posted and discriminatory enrollment practices should be ended to ensure students have equal access to charter school education. The proposed regulations benefit students and help ensure that students are not discriminated against based on intellectual or physical ability or disability.

Requirements for Board of Trustees

• Each trustee of a charter school entity is a public official that is held to the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act.
• Trustees must file a statement of financial interest.
• Trustees must disclose and abstain from any conflict of interests.
• Identifies penalties for violating ethics requirements.

Ed Voters’ note: Charter schools are public schools. It is past time for the trustees of these schools to be held to basic ethical standards and to disclose and abstain from any conflicts of interest. It is also past time for the clarification of penalties for individuals who violate the public trust and use their position as a public school trustee for personal financial gain.  These requirements already apply to school districts.

Fiscal Management and Audit Requirements

• Charter schools must follow generally accepted standards of fiscal management and audit requirements.
• To meet this condition, charter school entities will likely need to work with an accounting firm. Currently, charter school entities that receive at least $750,000 in Federal funds are already required to conduct an annual audit.
• 148 out of PA’s 163 charter school entities meet the minimum $750,00 threshold

Ed Voters’ note: Charter schools are expected to receive $3 billion in tax dollars in 2020-2021. It is reasonable for these public schools to follow generally accepted standards of fiscal management and audit requirements. This will make reviewing financial records easier for school districts, state auditors, and the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Redirection Process

• Establishes new procedure with timelines, due dates, and required forms for a charter school to request payment. (pp. 20-22).
  • The new system is intended to reduce the number of redirection requests submitted by charter school entities to PDE and increase payments directly to charter school entities by resident school districts.

Ed Voters’ note: This process will reduce tension between districts and charters and simplify the payment process for both charters and districts.

Health Care Benefits for School Employees

• Reiterates that charter school entity must provide its employees with the same heath care coverage that would be provided at the local school district (p. 22).
• Identifies the school district where the regional charter school’s or cyber charter school’s administrative office is located as the comparison district (p. 23).
• Specifies notice requirements to charter school staff on their rights to health care parity and avenues to file a complaint (p. 24).