Battle over cyber schools bill heats up

Teachers union, school boards back Beyer's bill on state funding.
By Martha Raffaele Of The Associated Press

The lobbying groups for Pennsylvania school boards and public school teachers don't often see eye to eye on education policy.

But they agree on the need for the state to more strictly regulate cyber charter schools -- which enable students to learn at home, using the Internet to connect to teachers and classroom materials -- and take on the full burden of paying for them.

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A bill that would require the state to fund cyber schools and limit the amount of tuition the schools can charge has the support of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state's largest teachers union.

That makes cyber school administrators uneasy. Pennsylvania has 11 cyber schools that enroll 17,000 students.

''If we have to fight against their heavy lobbying efforts, where they have dozens of people that can meet with legislators all day on Capitol Hill … and our message doesn't reach them in time, I believe some very dangerous legislation could be passed,'' said Jim Hanak, chief executive officer of Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School, a West Chester-based cyber school.

The legislation sponsored by Rep. Karen Beyer, R-Lehigh, calls for the state Education Department to pay for cyber schools, but would limit the amount of tuition the schools can collect to a range of $3,000 to $5,000 per pupil, depending on a school's enrollment.

Under the state's 1997 charter school law, school districts must pay tuition rates that are equivalent to roughly 75 percent of the state and local tax dollars they spend per pupil -- an amount that varies widely from district to district. Those rates apply to children enrolled in cyber schools and more traditional ''bricks and mortar'' charter schools.

School boards have long questioned whether the current charter school funding formula reflects the true cost of educating cyber school students, since the schools don't need to pay for transportation or the cost of maintaining school buildings.

''The dollar amounts that school districts are paying for these schools keep going up,'' school board association lobbyist Tim Allwein said. ''Our folks want to see a system whereby all payments to cyber schools are equal.''

Given that cyber schools' enrollment isn't restricted by geographical boundaries, it makes more sense for the state to pay for them, association president James Weaver said.

''Cyber charter schools can draw students from all over the state,'' Weaver said. ''I think that's problematic for school districts to deal with.''

Cyber school administrators argue that Beyer's proposed formula would put them out of business. They say the notion that cyber schools cost much less than traditional schools is wrong because they incur significant technology expenses, such as providing each student with a computer and an Internet connection, using an online curriculum, and equipment maintenance.

''That's almost equivalent to the cost of having buildings,'' Hanak said.

But Beyer insists that her bill merely seeks to control the cost of cyber education and make the schools more accountable to taxpayers.

''If I was really intending to wipe these schools out, I would say, 'No public funding,''' said Beyer, a former Saucon Valley school board member.

Beyer's bill is currently in the House Education Committee, which plans to hold hearings on the measure over the summer, said Christopher Wakeley, the committee's executive director.

And Gov. Ed Rendell's administration isn't ready to embrace the measure. While the state Education Department shares Beyer's concerns about cyber school costs, ''we don't agree that the answer is for the state to assume responsibility'' for funding them, department spokeswoman Sheila Ballen said.

In the meantime, parents of cyber school students are mounting their own lobbying efforts. Pennsylvania Families for Public Cyber Schools, an organization of about 450 families, rallied in the Capitol last week.

''We needed … to say 'We want to protect our cyber schools,''' said Jenny Bradmon, the organization's president, whose two children are enrolled in the Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School, based in Norristown. ''We like what they're doing, and they're working for our kids.''
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