'
Pa. auditor again blasts funding formula for cyber and charter schools
By Martha Woodall
Inquirer Staff Writer
Pennsylvania taxpayers could save $365 million each year if the state fixed its flawed formula for funding cyber and charter schools, state Auditor General Jack Wagner said Wednesday.
Wagner released a report saying the state has spent "substantially more" than the national average on the charter and cyber charter schools that educate more than 100,000 students.
"With the tightening of school budgets and funding available to school districts throughout the state," Wagner said, "Pennsylvania's flawed and overly generous funding formula for charter and cyber charter schools is a luxury taxpayers can no longer afford."
He said taxpayers could save $1 million each day if charter tuition payments were in line with national averages and if the payment rate were set lower for cyber charters serving students at home.
Wagner said the state's charter schools spend an average of $13,411 per student, against a