Monday, June 2, the PA House Education Committee passed House Bill 1500, a cyber charter reform bill that will save Pennsylvanians hundreds of millions of dollars by setting a flat tuition rate of $8000 for each regular education student and aligning special education tuition with cybers’ actual costs.

House Bill 1500 will help ensure that Pennsylvanians’ hard-earned tax dollars will be invested in educating students, not packed in cyber charter bank accounts or wasted on lavish ad campaigns, flashy sponsorships, luxury office buildings, and countless other questionable expenditures.

In addition to financial reforms, this very thorough legislation addresses many of the egregious deficiencies in the current cyber charter law that allow Pennsylvania’s billion dollar cyber charter industry to operate with little transparency and minimal accountability while running many of the lowest-performing schools in the commonwealth. Scroll to the bottom of the email for additional details!

Ready to help get this across the finish line?

Click HERE to join the Rapid Response Team.

This is an all hands on deck moment. The state budget must be passed by June 30th and the deep-pocketed cyber charter industry is going to fight very hard against any reforms.

They will fill the Capitol with lobbyists and be relentless in working to keep profits flowing into their pockets with minimal oversight for how they spend our tax dollars.

We have a plan and hope that you will sign up to be part of our Rapid Response Team to be on standby and take action when needed during our Cyber Charter Month of Action in June.

Click HERE to join the Rapid Response Team.

In order to become law, cyber charter reforms must be approved by both the House and Senate and signed into law by Governor Shapiro. We need to ensure that state lawmakers in every corner of Pennsylvania hear from their constituents and that our voices can be heard above those of the lobbyists in Harrisburg.

What “On Standby” Means:
By signing up for our rapid response email list you will:

– Receive alerts when it’s time to call or email your legislator or take another action.

– Get pre-written scripts and social assets that take two clicks to share.

– Interested in writing a Letter to the Editor or Op-Ed? We’ve got you covered with sample language, talking points, and one-on-one support if you need it.

NOTE: These alerts will not come through our usual Action Network emails, they will come directly from a member of the Ed Voters team. (You can decide to opt-out if you change your mind at any time).

Ready to Step Up?
Click HERE to join the Rapid Response Team.

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Let’s send a strong and clear message that it is unacceptable for PA lawmakers to continue turning a blind eye toward the waste and abuse of Pennsylvanians’ tax dollars by the cyber charter industry. We need them to take action to enact reforms to Pennsylvania’s charter school law that will put students—not corporate sponsors and ad agencies—first. And we need them to act now.

Thank you for your continued support of public education.

The Ed Voters Team

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Highlights from House Bill 1500.

Click HERE for a more detailed summary.

Financial Accountability

• Establishes a statewide regular education tuition rate of $8000 per student and aligns special education tuition with actual costs using the same calculation that is used to fund school districts.
• Limits cybers’ unassigned fund balances to 12% of their annual operating budget  (already a requirement for school districts) and requires that unassigned fund balances in excess of this amount be returned to school districts. Unassigned fund balances may not be used to pay bonuses or transferred to a cyber charter foundation.
• Ensures that districts will no longer pay tuition for students who do not live in their districts (or even in Pennsylvania) through clarification of residency verification.
• Requires cyber charters to have one administrative office. Cybers are prohibited from owning or having a financial interest in other offices and facilities without seeking an amendment to their charter and receiving approval from the department. (NOTE: This addresses concerns from the Auditor General’s report regarding the appropriateness of enormous expenditures on real estate and whether they align with the online platform unique to cyber charter schools, and ultimately, the intent of the Charter School Law).
•  Revenue generated from the rent, lease or sale of charter-owned property shall be paid annually to school districts.

Transparency

• Requires all public school entities to report total expenditures for paid media and sponsorships of public events. The department will publicly post this information.
• Requires cybers to submit a report to the department that will be posted publicly that includes: a list of entities providing financing for capital projects, all expenditures for educational management service providers, the annual budget of the cybers, and data that validates student wellness checks.

Academic Accountability

• Requires that cyber charters notify families when their schools are designated low-achieving schools (already a requirement for school districts).
• Establishes enrollment parameters for cyber charter schools that are designated for comprehensive support and improvement (CSI). These are schools that face the most significant challenges related to academic, achievement, student growth, graduation rate, other areas. Any cyber charter with the CSI designation may not expand its enrollment beyond a 5% increase.

Additional measures

• Enacts a moratorium on new cyber charter schools in PA through the 2029-2030 school year.
• Clarifies language to ensure that cyber students will be seen on a camera once per week for a wellness check and requires cybers to provide documentation of their compliance with this requirement.
• Clarifies the powers of the department and issues related to cyber charter applications, renewals, and amendments to allow for these processes to work more effectively and smoothly going forward.