FREDERICKSBURG, May 30, 2013 – State Senator Judy Schwank (D-Berks) and the Senate Education Committee today listened to school district and charter school officials about legislation affecting cyber charter school funding.
Schwank’s Senate Bill 335 would exempt school districts from paying cyber charter schools if that district offers a cyber program similar to the one offered by the non-district cyber charter school.
“My goal is to alleviate the pressure school districts are experiencing in using limited fiscal resources to pay outside providers of cyber education. If a school district can offer a comparable or better cyber schooling option, then it shouldn’t have to pay for both options,” Schwank said while emphasizing she is not an opponent of charter schools.
Schwank – who earlier this year was appointed to a new Special Education Funding Commission to recommend a new funding formula to more effectively pay for special education throughout the commonwealth – said districts would only be exempt from paying the cyber charter funds if that district had a comparable program within its borders.
“Where a district offers a cyber program equal in scope and content to the non-district cyber charter school, my legislation will remove that responsibility for funding,” Schwank said. “If the district doesn’t have a similar cyber program, it would pay the tuition for that attending pupil.”
Parents who choose to send their child to another district’s brick-and-mortar school are responsible for paying that cost themselves, and Schwank said SB 335 would force the same requirement for cyber charters.
“It is acknowledged that some students can and do opt for a different educational model than that which is provided by public schools and they pay for that option. The same should be true of students who choose a cyber charter education. It is a matter of equity and using limited fiscal resources to serve the most students,” she said.
Officials from the Northern Lebanon and Conrad Weiser school districts, Pennsylvania School Boards Association, Commonwealth Connections Academy, Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools, and the 21st Century Cyber Charter School testified before the Senate Education Committee.
Schwank said she appreciated the time and commitment of the school officials; noting their input is an invaluable part of the legislative process for SB 335.
“We as a commonwealth cannot fulfill every desire. Public education was never intended to do that. Our mandate is provide students with a good education that serves the needs of the commonwealth,” Schwank said.
The PA Department of Education defines charter schools as “self-managed public schools” that only come into being once they are approved by local school districts. Cyber schools, on the other hand, are approved by the Department of Education.
Cyber and charter schools are controlled by parents, teachers, community leaders, and colleges or universities, and are exempt from many educational mandates, except for nondiscrimination, health and safety, and accountability.
Pennsylvania has 173 brick-and-mortar charter schools and 16 cyber charter schools. Together, they educate 105,000 students.
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