Editorial: North Penn School Board Joins County Colleagues in Seeking Charter School Reform

(The following editorial was submitted by members of the North Penn School Board, on behalf of 73 countywide signees.)

It's no secret that Pennsylvania’s public schools and taxpayers have been under serious pressure because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus and the mitigation efforts have strained our education system and our economy in profound ways, impacting each community member, from the children in our schools to seniors on fixed incomes. As school board members from around Montgomery County, we have seen up close just how overwhelming some of these challenges have been.

As we look ahead at the state budget season, we know our lawmakers will have many difficult decisions to make. However, we suggest that one decision is actually quite straightforward:

Enacting common sense charter school reform will reduce the strain on students and taxpayers alike, without costing the commonwealth a cent or eliminating school choice.

Each of us has been elected to oversee the wise use of tax dollars and ensure a quality education for every student in our district. Yet while we try to do our job, we find we have no control or oversight of the charter tuition that is siphoned away from our schools. Unfair and unreasonable mandates regarding cyber charter payments have meant that public schools have had to pay tuition far above the level that it costs to educate a cyber student.

Even more egregious are the grossly inequitable special education charter rates that public schools are mandated to pay even for students who require very few services. For example, Methacton School District is forced to send $38,324 for each special education student, even when their only extra service is speech therapy once a week. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that charters often spend special education tuition on expenses that have nothing to do with special education.

These excessive charges hurt students in the public schools. Each dollar that is taken for a charter school is a dollar that isn’t available for curriculum, AP courses, music classes, co-curriculars  and guidance counselors. Some of our schools struggle with overcrowded classrooms, some with a shortage of special education support. These problems are tough to remedy when there is no money left to hire new teachers or aides.

Unreasonable charter payments hurt the local taxpayer as well, particularly homeowners with low or fixed incomes.

Pennsylvania relies very heavily on local property taxes to pay for public education, which means those taxes must be raised to cover rising charter payments. This situation can have some alarming consequences for local school districts. For example, between 2012 and 2017, every dollar Pottstown raised in new property tax revenue went to pay for the increase in mandated charter payments, and even then money had to be diverted from the classroom to cover charter tuition. Despite being responsible for charter expenses, the local school districts have no control over those charter costs - the bills get sent and we must pay them. This puts both local school boards and taxpayers in a powerless situation.

For many districts, this problem has become particularly clear this school year as cyber charters have used the pandemic as a business opportunity to acquire new “customers” on the taxpayers dime. Cyber charters have been investing their taxpayer dollars on massive advertising campaigns and have seen a 59% spike in enrollment in this last year.

Cyber charters schools, as a group, are among the poorest performing schools in the state and have little oversight or accountability. Families who choose cyber schools may do so for individual or non-academic reasons, a choice we respect.  However, we shouldn't have to ask taxpayers to pay two or three times as much for students who go to these schools, particularly when districts have almost universally created their own quality virtual options.

Many of our districts will be compelled to raise property taxes during this pandemic simply to cover the increase in excessive charter costs. This tax increase is effectively a charter fee on every taxpayer in the district.

Governor Wolf’s proposed budget plan calls for fundamental charter school reform which includes accountability measures and a per pupil reimbursement in line with actual costs. Lawmakers in Harrisburg have a duty to support a quality education for all students and to protect taxpayers from financial exploitation. They can do this by supporting common sense charter school reform.

Visit https://www.pacharterchange.org to learn more and discover tools to advocate.

Signed,

Tina Stoll, North Penn School District

Al Roesch, North Penn School District

Jonathan Kassa, North Penn School District

Tim MacBain, North Penn School District

Wanda Lewis-Campbell, Ed.D., North Penn School District

Christian Fusco, North Penn School District

Cathy Wesley, North Penn School District

Juliane Ramic, North Penn School District

(Editor’s note: at the time of publishing, North Penn School Board Director Dr. Elisha Gee was the only person on the nine-member board to not sign the above editorial.)

Additional signees include:

Laura Johnson, Pottstown School District

Katina Bearden,  Pottstown School District

Amy Bathurst Francis, Pottstown School District

Steve Kline, Pottstown School District

Jennifer Iannitti, Upper Dublin School District

Stan Ropski, Upper Dublin School District

Sue Lawrence, Pottstown School District

Denise (DJ) Schultz, Hatboro-Horsham School District

Michael Berardi, Lower Moreland Township School District

Amy Francek, Upper Dublin School District

Sarah Evans-Brockett, Perkiomen Valley School District

Wayde M. Weston, Ph.D., Perkiomen Valley School District

Judy Lofton, Perkiomen Valley School District                                                                                           

John J Armato Pottstown School District

Beth Roberts,  Perkiomen Valley School District

Melanie Cunningham, Upper Perkiomen School District

Dr. Charles Nippert, Pottsgrove School District

Ron Stoloff, Wissahickon School District

Karen Taratuski Psy.D,  School District of Springfield Township

Darlene G. Davis, Ed.D., Upper Dublin School District

Thomas Hylton, Pottstown School Board

Walter Lapidus, School District of Springfield Township

Cathy Peduzzi, Colonial School District

Bill England, MSW, Cheltenham School District

Joel I. Fishbein, Cheltenham School District

Bonita L. Barnhill, Pottstown School District

Laurie Actman, Lower Merion School District

Julie Haywood, Cheltenham School District

Eunice Franklin-Becker, MPH, Colonial School DIstrict

Rosemary Northcutt, Colonial School District

Andrea Rees, Methacton School District

Neil DiFranco, School District of Springfield Township

Tamar Klaiman, Abington School District

Melissa M. Mowry, Ph.D., Abington School District

Adam M. Share, Abington School District

Jeffrey Wallack, Upper Dublin School District

Mary Hull, Methacton School District

Shameeka Browne, Abington School District

Shae Ashe, Norristown Area School District

Elizabeth Drummond, Methacton School District

Gretchen Slapinsky, School District of Springfield Township

Ashley Custer, Pottsgrove School District

Jennifer Wilson, Hatboro-Horsham School District

Donna Scheuren, Souderton Area School District

Stephen M. Nelson, Souderton Area School District

Matt Holliday, Souderton Area School District

Courtney Barbieri, RN, Souderton Area School District

William J Brong  Souderton Area School District

Thomas Kwiatkowski Souderton Area School District

Ken Keith Souderton Area School District

Nicholas Braccio, Souderton Area School District

Mike Elliott, Upper Perkiomen School District

Rose A. Huber, Upper Moreland Township School District

Cherie Kuech, Upper Moreland Township School District

Albert J. DerMovsesian, Upper Moreland Township School District

LouCrecie Garlanger, Upper Moreland Township School District

Jennifer Solot, Upper Moreland Township School District

Jeffrey Greb, Upper Moreland Township School District

Gregory D’Elia, Upper Moreland Township School District

April Stainback, Upper Moreland Township School District

Paul Tkacs, Upper Moreland Township School District

Janet Flisak, Souderton Area School District

Ken Keith Souderton Area School District

Kimberley Mares, Perkiomen Valley School District

Christina Melton, Spring-Ford Area School District

See also:

Republicans Hammer Education Leaders Over Proposed Charter School Cuts In Pennsylvania

Pa. School Districts Unprepared For Soaring Cyber Charter Enrollment

Editorial: State Educational Mandates And Their Relationship With Property Taxes

North Penn’s Curt Dietrich Joins State Public School Superintendents In Call For Charter Reform

Pennsylvania Schools Receive $2.2B Pandemic Relief Aid

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