Charter/cyber schools lack public accountability

Photo: Reason magazine

By Julia Trimarchi Cuccaro

INDIANA — Almost all Pennsylvanians can agree on three things regarding public schools, grades K-12. First, that school choice is an important option for parents; second, that school real estate taxes have become increasingly burdensome, and, third, that the public school funding formula needs to be revised. 

School choice with respect to Pennsylvania charter and cyber schools affects our local public school budget and tax rates because it’s the local taxpayers who pay for charter/cyber school tuition each year. Charter/cyber schools are not free, and the effect of the unexpected escalation of their tuition rates in the past five years has stressed school budgets across the commonwealth.  

For example, Indiana Area School District (IASD) is the largest district in Indiana County. It has an annual budget of close to $60 million in total assets. Of that, the district’s local tax payers invest about $27.5 million annually in support of the district. This funding is by far the largest source of revenues the district receives, and part of it is used to pay charter/cyber school tuition payments.  

At one time, the commonwealth helped with those payments. But those days are over. 

IASD over the past five years averaged about 80 students per year who attended charter/cyber schools. The tuition costs for those students in 2018 was about $850,000. This year, the costs have roughly doubled to over $1.6 million. That’s a huge cost hike for any district, let alone one like IASD that has experienced a declining tax base in the last several years.  

THE REAL CHALLENGE behind these costs is figuring out the components of the tuition. 

Consider this: No one objects to paying a valid, accurate bill. But no one likes paying a bill when one can’t understand how the pricing is derived. That’s a big problem for our local taxpayers when it comes to charter/cyber tuition.  

Almost all the important elements behind these tuition payments, such as charter/cyber revenues, expenses, basic financial number and academic results, are not required to be disclosed to the public in Pennsylvania. Therefore, public schools have almost no chance of accounting for the cyber/charter bills they are paying for and why. 

The only way we can learn more about what we are paying for is to require the same disclosures from charter/cyber schools as we do from public one

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‘The only way we can learn more about what we are paying for is to require the same disclosures from charter/cyber schools as we do from public ones.’ 

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Each and every penny of a public school budget is disclosed every year to the taxpayer and is subject to an annual audit by an independent auditor. Anyone can find out anything about a Pennsylvania public school, including how much each one pays its faculty, administration, health-care costs, food costs, book costs, cleaning and repair costs to facilities, athletic facilities, bond financing costs, pension costs, educational results, test scores, and annual and reserve fund balances, to name just a fraction of them.  

We can’t say the same for charter/cyber schools. Therefore, it’s rather disturbing to pay for what you can’t understand.

ANOTHER BIG FACTOR is public school districts are required to elect independent school boards to insure direct local oversight of the district. The public has absolutely no direct oversight over the boards of charter/cyber schools. That’s a problem if we want to  improve school choice and academic and fiscal responsibility in the long run. 

Julia Trimarchi Cuccaro. Photo: Indiana Gazette

Consider this: Only Pennsylvania’s governor, its state Senate and House of Representatives can improve the system by passing better charter/cyber legislation and disclosure requirements. Let your local state representatives know that you want answers and that the current law is in sore need of improvement.  

Your time and interest in these challenges are important. Our most important public school assets are precious, namely our children, and they require a great deal of care and careful oversight. 

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 Julia Trimarchi Cuccaro, an attorney, is vice president of the Indiana Area School District Board of Directors and chair of its Audit and Finance Committee. She lives in White Township.