Virtual classes fail kids and taxpayers, actually

Students are back in school, sort of. In 2020, for most kids, “in school” means online learning.

Although more than 90% of the state’s school districts now offer an online education program, some families have chosen to send their students to existing cyber charter schools.

Some parents take comfort in the fact that cybers have been teaching online longer than almost anyone. But the truth is cyber schools have never done well educating and they cost taxpayers millions.

How many millions? $606 million. Every single year.

PA House Bill 526, sponsored by Rep. Curt Sonney, Chairman of the House Education Committee, is a law that aims to offer taxpayers a better return on investment and acknowledge parent choice. The bill would allow students that enroll in a full-time online education program run by a district to attend without fee or cost. If parents in these districts opt instead to send their students to a cyber charter school, the parents would cover the cost of tuition and fees. 

For taxpayers and school districts across the Commonwealth, the passage of this law would be a gamechanger. PCCY fully supports this bill.

Currently, PA’s charter school law requires every school pay the same amount of tuition for cyber students as they do for brick and mortar students. Maddeningly, this means tuition payments to cyber charters are not calculated based on the actual costs incurred, but on what it costs a school district to teach their students in person.

For example, during the 2018-2019 school year, Bensalem School District paid charter schools about $12,500 for each non-special education student and $35,200 for every special education student. In total, the district paid about $2 million dollars to cyber charter schools during the year – just over $1 million in non-special and almost $1 million in special education payments.

In the Coatesville Area School District, charter tuition payments were about $11,600 for students in regular education and about $34,000 for students receiving special education services. The district paid about $2.7 million in non-special education tuition to cyber charter schools and about $1.3 million in special education tuition.

And the مقاطعة فيلادلفيا التعليمية paid about $106 million to cyber charters – $68 million in cyber charter school tuition payments for regular education students and $38 million for special education students for about 6,200 students. Cyber charters received about $10,100 for every Philadelphia student in regular and $28,900 for every student in special education classes.

So that’s how much we’re paying. What are we getting?

A recent Stanford University study found that students attending Pennsylvania’s cyber charters lose 106 days of learning in reading and 118 days in math during a school year compared to students in district schools. And even worse, the Pennsylvania Department of Education has consistently ranked all of Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools among the worst-performing schools in the state.

If you’re angry already, you may only be half as mad as you should be.  Estimates suggest that since March 2020, statewide cyber enrollment may have DOUBLED.

With Pennsylvania’s economy struggling to regain its footing due to Covid and taxpayers cobbling together plans to make ends meet, the state needs a better path forward.

Chairman Sonney’s bill provides just that.

Because 92% of PA school districts offer cyber education programs, it places an unreasonable burden on the school districts and taxpayers across the Commonwealth to continue to pay for failing state-authorized cyber charter schools.

The Commonwealth must adopt the bill and change the law.

Philadelphia can show its support by asking City Council to step up and speak up. We call upon Council and local governments across the state to pass a resolution to support PA House Bill 526.