Lawmaker proposes a moratorium on new cyber charter schools

State Senator Lindsey Williams is calling on the legislature to place a moratorium on cyber charter schools until 2038. There are 14 cyber charter schools operating in the commonwealth that cost taxpayers and school districts over $1 billion annually.

A Western Pennsylvania lawmaker is renewing their calls for a moratorium on all cyber charter school applications to reign in some of the waste, fraud and abuse committed with taxpayer dollars. 

There are 14 cyber charter schools operating in Pennsylvania and they cost taxpayers $1 billion with very little guardrails or guidance on how they spend that money. 

“We’ve seen school districts across the commonwealth, at last count it was more than 450 of the 500 school districts, have passed resolutions calling for charter reform, and we haven’t been able to get a big cyber charter or brick and mortar or any kind of big charter reform across the finish line,” State Sen. Lindsey Williams (D-Allegheny) said during an interview.

“In the absence of doing that, the only thing I can see to do is put a moratorium on new cyber charters because they are costing a lot of money. There’s rampant fraud in the money they are spending.”

Williams introduced Senate Bill 27 last week, and it calls for the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) to put a moratorium on any cyber charter school application through June 2038. 

During the interview, Williams highlighted how cyber charter schools are able to game the system put in place by the commonwealth that allows them to keep reapplying for their charter until they are approved.

“We had [Pennwood Cyber Charter School] approved last year and it also had a deficient application. The application was still deficient as to a number of metrics and was approved by the [Pennsylvania Department of Education]. They said they kept applying,” Williams said.

“My fear is that it sent a signal to corporate entities all across the country that Pennsylvania is open for business in terms of profiting off the backs of students. If you have enough money, you can just apply here multiple times and you will get approved. That is not the standard that I believe is in the law. That’s not the standard that PDE had previously been interpreting. And I, I’m really concerned about that moving forward.”

Pennsylvania’s Republican Auditor General Timothy DeFoor called on the governor’s office and the Pennsylvania General Assembly to come up with potential cyber charter reforms after an audit highlighted questionable spending habits by some of the state’s largest cyber charter schools. 

A report by the Education Voters of Pennsylvania found that cyber charter schools spent over $21 million on advertising, sponsorships with minor league sports teams and grocery gift cards.

Since Pennsylvania has 500 school districts, cyber charter schools are allowed to charge 500 different tuition rates for students and they range between $7,659 to $28,959 per student. For students receiving special education, those rates climb to $18,627 to $59,523 per student. 

In his budget address last month, Gov. Josh Shapiro called for capping cyber charter school tuition at $8,000 per student, which would save school districts $378 million annually.