School officials angry about state charter policy

DAVID HULSE
Posted 8/21/12

WESTFALL, PA — According to a PA School Boards Association (PSBA) report, charter schools performance appears to be “poor to miserable,” while their funding in some cases exceeds that of public …

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School officials angry about state charter policy

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WESTFALL, PA — According to a PA School Boards Association (PSBA) report, charter schools performance appears to be “poor to miserable,” while their funding in some cases exceeds that of public schools by a two-to-one ratio, Delaware Valley School Board member John Wroblewski said as he summarized the report on August 18.

Wroblewski said that PSBA requested financial information from 173 charter schools, initially received records from 53% of them and appealed for court orders for 75 more, of which 39% complied following the appeal. The remaining 25% of the total, he said, refused.

Those schools are “basically hiding their information,” Wroblewski charged.

Among those reporting, he said the report found a $101.7 million difference between money funded and money expended on education programs. “Where’s the money going?” he asked.

The report found that administration in the charters was at twice the cost of public schools, $1,742 per pupil, versus $914 in public schools.

Another high charter cost was $4.35 million for advertising, with eight schools expending 19% of their total budgets on advertising. “That’s our tax money,” Wroblewski added.

“They have lobbyists and make political contributions, which we can’t. But we can understand how they’re getting away with murder.” According to Superintendent John Bell, some “pad the pockets of legislators and get away with whatever they want.”

Asked if the system was based on legislative corruption, board members assented en masse, but declined to do so individually. “You said that, I didn’t,” Bell said with a smile.

“The legislators know this already. We need to educate the community. If we [create a] clamor, other legislators will fall in [for reform],” board president Pam Lutfy said.

The charters, many operated as cyber schools, were set up to provide alternatives for students in poorly performing inner city districts, but the policies that have developed have led to overpayments, Bell said.

Delaware Valley operates its own non-charter cyber school and this year will contribute $904,000 toward charter school costs. The discussion may have been prompted by rumors that the Mount Haven Resort is considering a charter school.

In other business, guidance director Jennifer Cosentino reported on outcomes from the 2016 graduating class, saying 77% were going on to two- or four-year colleges, down from 80% last year. She suggested that drop reflected higher college costs, and noted that an increase (4%) in those going on to the military reflected efforts to reduce those costs with veterans’ college support. Graduates received $1,699,475 in scholarships.

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