PA Charter Schools: $4 Billion Taxpayer Dollars With No Real Oversight

Keystone State Education Coalition:

Keystone State Education Coalition PA Charter Schools: $4 Billion Taxpayer Dollars With No Real Oversight About the Keystone State Education Coalition: Established in 2006, the Keystone State Education Coalition is a growing grass roots, non-partisan public education advocacy group of several hundred locally elected, volunteer school board members and administrators from school districts throughout Pennsylvania. Our mission is to evaluate, discuss and inform our boards, district constituents and legislators on legislative issues of common interest and to facilitate active engagement in public education advocacy.  More information can be found by clicking  here.                                    About Lawrence Feinberg:Lawrence A. Feinberg is with the School District of Haverford Township as a school director since 1999.  He is the chairman of the Delaware County School Boards Legislative Council. Feinberg is the founder and co-chair of the Southeastern Pennsylvania School Districts’ Education Coalition/Keystone State Education Coalition.  He is also a member of the Board of Directors with the PA School Boards Association.  For more information contact him atlawrenceafeinberg@gmail.com. BY THE NUMBERSMeasure the Performance of PA Charter and Cyber Charter Schools 2 of 12  Of 12 PA cyber charters only 2 made AYP for 2011, while 8 were in corrective action status under No Child Left Behind and 7 have never made AYP. 17%.  A June 2009 Stanford University/CREDO study done in partnership with the pro school choice Walton Family Foundation and Pearson Learning Systems looked at charter performance in 15 states and the District of Columbia covering more than 70 percent of the nation’s charter school students.  It found that only 17% of charters had academic gains better than traditional public schools; 37% were worse and 46% showed no significant difference. 18  Philadelphia charter schools are reportedly under federal investigation.  Several charters have involvement of legislators, family members and staffers. Representative Matzie introduced HB 1740 earlier this session which is modeled after House Rules that prohibit members and immediate family members from association with gambling interests. 25%  A 2011 Stanford/CREDO study reported that students at just 25 percent of the state's charter schools made significantly more learning gains in reading and math.  But they found that students at nearly half of the charter schools made significantly lower learning gains in both subjects than their traditional public school counterparts. 100%  The 2011 Stanford/CREDO study found that in 100 percent of Pennsylvania cyber charters, students performed “significantly worse” in math and reading than students at traditional public schools. $1000  What it reportedly costs a home schooled student’s  parents for online curriculum. $9000  What a representative school district is required to pay in tuition to a cyber charter for each regular education student. $27,000  What a representative school district is required to pay in tuition to a cyber charter for each and every special education student (unlike traditional public schools whose special education funding by the state is capped at 16% of students, there is no special ed cap for charter schools). 30,000  In testimony before the House Democratic Policy Committee in Philadelphia last year, Archdiocese Superintendent Mary Rochford estimated that they had lost 30,000 students to free public charter schools. $153,629  2010 reported salary of charter CEO with 1202 students. $155,000  2010 reported salary of charter CEO with 896 students $189,844  2010 reported salary of charter CEO with 155 students $193,510  2010 reported salary of charter CEO with 929 students $201,800  2010 reported salary of Lower Merion Supt. with 6943 students $241,033  2010 reported salary of charter CEO with 588 students $384,000  which was the highest campaign contribution to Governor Corbett given by a charter school operator, whose management company runs the state’s largest brick and mortar charter school. $1,320,653.69  Pennsylvania political contributions reported by an operator from 1/1/2007 through 5/31/11.  These operators have been a strong proponent of legislation making it easier for new charter schools to be authorized by the state without the involvement of local school districts, who would still have to pay the bills. $5 Million  Taxpayer dollars that was spent last year’s for a bonus to K-12 Inc.’s CEO Ron Packard.  K-12’s Agora cyber charter has never made AYP.  Prior to his appointment as PA Budget Secretary, Charles Zogby was a K-12 executive. $10 Million taxpayer dollars: The amount that Nick Trombetta, former CEO of PA Cyber Charter (the state’s largest cyber charter), reportedly took out of the school’s fund balance to finance construction of a performing arts center. $28.9 Million; is what a charter school operator reportedly spent in 2011 for 2 beachfront lots in Palm Beach Florida. (we don’t know if these are in fact taxpayer dollars since a right-to-know request pending for several years now looks like it is headed to the state Supreme Court) $86 Million  Taxpayer dollars.  The PA Auditor General’s Office reported that taxpayers and school districts could have saved approximately $86 million in 2009-2010 if cybers received funding based on what they spent per student.  Despite this and the fact that most cybers have never made AYP, the State’s response was to authorize 7 more new cyber schools for 2012-2013. $4 Billion  Taxpayer dollars with no real oversight.  The Allentown Morning Call reported that there are few eyes on the $4 billion taxpayers have spent toward charter schools in the last decade. That total, according to Department of Education data, includes per pupil expenditures, salaries, building and rental costs, and grants.