SCHOOL DISTRICT FACT SHEETS

How much funding are charter school tuition payments draining out of your school district?

Charter and cyber charter schools are privately managed public schools. Pennsylvania law allows any student to apply to attend any charter or cyber charter school in the state. Students’ home school districts are mandated by state law to pay tuition to the charter schools for these students.

In the 2020-2021 school year, Pennsylvania taxpayers spent more than $2.6 billion in tuition payments to charter schools, including more than $1 billion on cyber charter school tuition payments.

The state no longer provides a reimbursement to help districts pay for charter school tuition costs, so charter school tuition payments are funded primarily through property taxes. AND, flawed calculations in Pennsylvania’s outdated charter school law mean that school districts often send charter schools more money than they need to educate children.

Charter and cyber charter schools can spend excess funding from school districts on anything, so your property tax dollars can end up paying for expensive cyber charter school advertising, lavish charter school CEO salaries, exorbitant contracts with management companies and more.

Only state lawmakers can fix the charter school law to align tuition payments to charter schools with their actual costs to save tax dollars, relieve pressure on districts to raise property taxes, and curb wasteful spending by charter schools.

Find your district fact sheet below.