Week Ten: House Education Committee holds hearing focused on cyber charter school outcomes

This week we are taking a break from posting invoices that show cyber charter waste to share information from the April 25th PA House Education Committee meeting that focused on student outcomes in cyber charters. Our executive director, Susan Spicka, and Dr. Sherri Smith, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA) were the first two panelists invited to provide comments.

Highlights from Susan Spicka’s Testimony:

• In the 2023-2024 school year cyber charters accounted for 20% of student dropouts, despite enrolling just 5% of public school students in grades 7–12.

• The average four-year cohort graduation rate for a cyber charter is 65% compared with 88% in school districts. The average six-year cohort graduation rate for cybers is 75% compared to 92% for school districts.

“Cyber charters are a billion dollar a year industry in Pennsylvania and for many, increasing revenue and enrollment appears to be a much higher priority than ensuring the students entrusted to their care are actually learning and will graduate and go into the world as adults with a diploma and the ability to support our workforce.” — Susan Spicka

Highlights from Dr. Sherri Smith’s Testimony:

“It is often pointed out that state assessments are not the appropriate measure of success for students, therefore I share this statement sent to me by one of our districts:

We were just sent a grade report for a student who attends Commonwealth Charter Academy. This student currently has an F in Algebra, a D- in Career Planning, an F in Entrepreneurship, an F in Health and Phys Ed, a D in Intro to Social Media, a D- in Life, and a D in United States History.

This student’s Cumulative GPA is 0.5006. It says that on his “OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT.” And right next to that it reads, “Class Rank: 501 out of 3656.” Apparently, there are 3,000 ninth graders at Commonwealth Charter Academy who have worse grades than that.

As a state, we should be very concerned about the ongoing issue of low performance and participation compliance of cyber charter schools.” — Dr. Sherri Smith

Susan brought this monitor to the House Education Committee meeting. It was given to her by a cyber charter parent whose child no longer wanted it. Apparently, the school does not require families to return these.

Week Nine: Reach Cyber Charter School

For week nine, we invite you to examine the invoices that Reach Cyber Charter School provided to Education Voters of PA through a Right to Know request for expenses related to advertising and promotion for the 2023-2024 school year.

These invoices total $5,169,737.60 and includes thousands of dollars on month TV ads, with single TV advertising invoices reaching over $100,000.00 in a single month. There is a single invoice for gift cards purchased from Target for $87,500.00 as well as a single invoice for gift cards from Dominos Pizza for $54,000.00. An additional invoice shows a $57,500.00 spend for the first of two payments on a commercial video shoot.   

On average, Reach Cyber Charter School is spending approximately $840.33 per student per year on advertising and promotion expenses.

According to the most recent information reported on the Future Ready PA Index, Reach Cyber Charter enrolls 6152 students and is classified as a Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) school.

Reach Cyber Charter School had a four year cohort graduation rate of 80.0% in the 2022-2023 school year. The statewide average for that school year was 87.6%. Reach Cyber Charter is below statewide averages in percentage of “proficient or advanced students” for Pennsylvania State Assessments in English (19.3%), Math (6.3%), and Science (24.2%). All student groups did not meet interim goal/improvement targets for all three subjects. 

TV Advertising Spend –$58,460.00

Week Eight: Agora Cyber Charter

For week eight, we invite you to examine the invoices that Agora Cyber Charter School provided to Education Voters of PA through a Right to Know request for expenses related to advertising and promotion for the 2023-2024 school year.

These invoices total $903,498.17 and includes $774,111.19 to a single company (Aloysius, Butler, & Clark) for marketing, advertising, and public relations fees. On average, PA Distance Learning Center is spending $203.86 per student per year on advertising and promotion expenses.

According to the most recent information reported on the Future Ready PA Index, Agora Cyber Charter School enrolls 4432 students and is classified as a Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) school.

Agora Cyber Charter had a four-year cohort graduation rate of 50.6% in the 2022-2023 school year. The statewide average for that school year was 87.6%. Agora Cyber Charter is below statewide averages in percentage of “proficient or advanced students” for Pennsylvania State Assessments in English (24.7%), Math (7.2%), and Science (34.8%). All student groups did not meet interim goal/improvement targets for all three subjects.

Creative and Productions Services – $10,175.00

Week Seven: A 65% graduation rate, on average

This week, we’re examining the staggeringly abysmal student performance in Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools.

According to the 2023–2024 Future Ready PA Index:

        🔹 The four-year cohort graduation rate for cyber charters averages just 65%, more than 20% lower than the state average of 87%.

        🔹 Every cyber charter school is currently performing in the lowest 5% of schools in Pennsylvania.

        🔹 Student performance in cybers falls drastically below state averages in English, Math, and Science proficiency.

        🔹 Math scores are especially alarming. Over half of the cyber charters (9 of 14) had fewer than 10% of students scoring proficient.

A recent report from Good Jobs First, “Pennsylvania Cyber Charter Schools Fail Black and Brown Students,” documents that nearly four times as many Black students in school districts are proficient in math and algebra compared to their counterparts in cyber charters; three times as many Hispanic students are proficient in math. Black and Hispanic students enrolled in school districts are 1.5 times as likely to be proficient in science and biology compared to students in cyber charters.

This disparity in student performance between students in district schools and cyber charters is nothing new. For more than two decades Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools have been among the lowest performing schools in the commonwealth. And Pennsylvanians pay a premium for this failure of more than $1 billion annually.

For many cyber charters, increasing revenue and enrollment appears to be a higher priority than ensuring the students in their care are actually learning and will graduate. 

It’s time for this to change. 

Right-sizing tuition for cyber charters by enacting a $8000/student regular education flat tuition rate will allow cyber charter schools to get back to the basics and focus on educating students without the distraction of building real estate empires, designing expensive marketing campaigns and the endless other work associated with figuring out how to spend/waste the hundreds of millions of dollars in excess funding they receive each year from Pennsylvania taxpayers. 

Week Six: PA Distance Learning Center

For week six, we invite you to examine the invoices that PA Distance Learning Center provided to Education Voters of PA through a Right to Know request for expenses related to advertising and promotion for the 2023-2024 school year.

These invoices total $419,614.43 and includes thousands of dollars spent on Google and Facebook advertising, along with additional advertising expenses. On average, PA Distance Learning Center is spending $359.57 per student per year on advertising and promotion expenses.

According to the most recent information reported on the Future Ready PA Index, PA Distance Learning Center enrolls 1167 students and is classified as a Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) school.

PA Distance Learning Center had a four-year cohort graduation rate of 59.6% in the 2022-2023 school year. The statewide average for that school year was 87.6%. PA Distance Cyber Charter is below statewide averages in percentage of “proficient or advanced students” for Pennsylvania State Assessments in English (21.6%), Math (8.2%), and Science (31.3%). All student groups did not meet interim goal/improvement targets for all three subjects.

Week Five: Commonwealth Charter Academy 

Auditor General Tim DeFoor’s recent audit of Commonwealth Charter Academy found that CCA is providing its employees with a $400/month fuel stipend. In other words, CCA is using tax dollars from school districts that are intended to be invested in educating students to pay their employees to drive to work. 

Excerpt from the audit

Fuel Stipends – CCA provided $2.4 million for fuel stipends for all employees that work full time in a FSC (Family Service Center) during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 fiscal years. CCA management indicated that after returning to in-person work, the CCA Board of Trustees implemented a temporary fuel stipend of $200 per pay ($400 per month) for any staff member working full time from an FSC. 

CCA stated that it implemented a stipend in lieu of a salary or hourly pay adjustment to ensure equity to staff due to heightened gasoline prices recognizing that rising gasoline and other prices would negatively impact staff returning to in-person work at the FSC. 

Management indicated that the stipend is reviewed annually and is currently still in effect. However, CCA did not provide any policy or limitations to the stipends, such as limits based on the distance the employee is from the FSC. It appears the stipend was provided even if employees were commuting a short distance during the audit period. 

Commonwealth Charter Academy Performance Audit, p. 35. (Our emphasis and spacing).

Week Four: Achievement House Cyber Charter School

“For week four, we invite you to examine the invoices that Achievement House Cyber Charter School provided to Education Voters of PA through a Right to Know request for expenses related to advertising and promotion for the 2023-2024 school year.

These invoices total $694,504.16 and include invoices for monthly media buys ranging between $30,000 and $50,000, digital advertising and consulting fees, and PR services. 

According to the most recent information reported on the Future Ready PA Index, Achievement House Cyber Charter School enrolls 1083 students and is classified as a Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) school.

Achievement House Cyber Charter School had a four-year cohort graduation rate of 50% in the 2022-2023 school year. The statewide average for that school year was 87.6%. Achievement House Cyber Charter is below statewide averages in percentage of “proficient or advanced students” for Pennsylvania State Assessments in English (28.0%), Math (3.3%), and Science (10.9%). All student groups did not meet interim goal/improvement targets for all three subjects.

Digital Consulting and Advertising Fees –$3060.00

Week Three: Reach Cyber Charter School

Buckle up for week three. 

Reach Cyber Charter School spent more than $4 million on gift cards for students during the 2023-2024 school year. These include nearly $3.9 million spent on grocery gift cards and more than $150,000 spent on gift cards to Dominos, Target, Walmart, Dunkin’, Five Below, and Booksamillion.

Records show some gift cards were provided as “state testing incentives” (p. 161) and “attendance rewards” (pp.  47, 67, 82, 98, 118, 136, and 151). 

Let’s make this clear – every dollar that Reach Cyber Charter School spent on gift cards for students is a dollar that was paid by a Pennsylvania taxpayer. In fact, most of this money came from property taxes home and business owners paid to their local school districts.  

According to the most recent information reported on the Future Ready PA Index, Reach Cyber Charter enrolls 6152 students and is classified as a Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) school.

Reach Cyber Charter School had a four year cohort graduation rate of 80.0% in the 2022-2023 school year. The statewide average for that school year was 87.6%. Reach Cyber Charter is below statewide averages in percentage of “proficient or advanced students” for Pennsylvania State Assessments in English (19.3%), Math (6.3%), and Science (24.2%). All student groups did not meet interim goal/improvement targets for all three subjects. 

Domino’s Gift Card Purchase – $54,000.00

Week Two: PA Virtual Cyber Charter School

For week two, we invite you to examine a yearly SEO management fee for PA Virtual Cyber Charter school – totaling $500,000.00. This agreement, originally listed at $420,000.00 but was then raised to $500,000.00, is paid to Nustream, a marketing company that specializes in “in promoting your business listing to the top of the Google search engine.” This invoice includes a $10,000.00 per month management fee.

In other words, PAVCS wasted half a million tax dollars in a single year on boosting their internet ads to the top of Google searches.

According to the most recent information reported on the Future Ready PA Index, PA Virtual Cyber Charter enrolls 2955 students and is classified as a Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) school.

PA Virtual Cyber Charter had a four year cohort graduation rate of 83.2% in the 2022-2023 school year. The statewide average for that school year was 87.6%. PA Virtual Cyber is below statewide averages in percentage of “proficient or advanced students” for Pennsylvania State Assessments in English (34.5%), Math (16.0%), and Science (42.3%). All student groups did not meet interim goal/improvement targets for all three subjects. 

Week One: 21st Century Cyber Charter School

We invite you to examine the invoices that 21st Century Cyber School provided to Education Voters of PA through a Right to Know request for expenses related to advertising and promotion for the 2023-2024 school year.

These invoices total $608,270.76 and include invoices for commercial shoots, TV Advertising, Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburg Pirates sponsorships, and thousands of dollars spent on social media advertising. On average, 21st Century Cyber School is spending approximately $551.47 per student per year on advertising and promotion expenses.

According to the most recent information reported on the Future Ready PA Index, 21st Century Charter School enrolls 1103 students and is classified as a Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) school. 

21st Century Cyber had a four year cohort graduation rate of 68.1% in the 2022-2023 school year. The statewide average for that school year was 87.6%. 21st Century is below statewide averages in percentage of “proficient or advanced students” for Pennsylvania State Assessments in English (47.5%), Math (25.5%), and Science (43.8%). All student groups did not meet interim goal/improvement targets for all three subjects. 

Search Engine Optimization – $14,875.00