School districts think outside the classroom to compete with charters

With the arrival of charter schools, the way was paved for their Internet-based equivalent, cyber-charter schools.

Cyber schools established outside of brick and mortar establishments have seen growth in recent years, prompting the efforts put forth by Spring-Ford Area School District, Phoenixville Area School District, Boyertown Area School District and Pottstown School District.

In his presentation on Boyertown’s cyber school initiative, Superintendent Dion Betts outlined two motivations for the program: to recoup some of the money lost when students go to other programs outside the district and to provide a better cyber program than what the current cyber school programs provide.

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LTE: Education Spending … the Rest of the Story

Ultimately, these increases were enabled by failing to fully fund pensions for public school teachers. But like family budgets, the bill is now coming due like at Central Dauphin School District where officials announced the cut of more than 70 teaching jobs and a tax increase of more than three percent just to make ends meet.

But they are not alone as total taxpayer contributions for school and state worker pensions will increase from $1.7 billion in 2011-12 to more than $6.1 billion in 2016-17—a 257 percent increase. Next school year, the average homeowner will pay an additional $370 just for increases in required pension contributions.

Unfortunately, those with perpetual palms up are repeating the popular narrative that simply blames state lawmakers. This old yarn ignores how the Pennsylvania State Education Association was complicit in the crisis. The PSEA lobbied not only for increases in pension benefits, but also for the 2003 and 2010 legislation to delay pension payments.

Finally, many discussions on education spending ignore the most exciting part of the story: the great success of school choice. School choice programs such as charter schools, cyber charter schools and scholarships offered through business tax credits give Pennsylvania’s children quality education with fewer tax dollars. Schools of choice—private, charter, and home school—save taxpayers $4.3 billion annually.

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Tight budgets make cyber charter schools easy targets

In recent months, conversations surrounding the funding of Pennsylvania’s 12 cyber charter schools have reached a fever pitch, not only in Harrisburg, but across the commonwealth.

Though this type of charter school represents the only true public school choice for all 1.87 million K-12 students in Pennsylvania, cyber charter schools have undeservedly drawn heavy criticism and found themselves on the funding chopping block.

While these schools have different needs, cyber charter schools incur similar expenditures as do traditional brick-and-mortar schools and deserve equal funding.

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T.E.A.C.H. Co-Founder Takes on Corbett’s Budget

Not all charter schools are created equal, though. Some charter schools truly are driving real reform with student-centered policies. However, these are not the norm. Most charters are big business-run factories with a driving purpose to lower costs and increase profits no matter what that does to the widgets … I mean students, they produce.

For instance, a 2004 study done by the Department of Education found that charter schools “are less likely than traditional public schools to employ teachers meeting state certification standards.” A national evaluation by Stanford University found that 83 percent of charter schools perform worse than public schools.

And it only gets worse for cyber charter schools. Fewer than 20 percent of Pennsylvania’s cyber charters meet national standards for reading and math known as AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress).

But the cost is so low; the profits so high! Provide a kid with a computer and software and you’re done. Maybe you have a handful of actual living, breathing teachers on staff to provide instruction via a chat room. Compare those costs with that of public schools. Just the cost of running an actual brick-and-mortar building is more.

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Salisbury Considers Creating Cyber School

Salisbury Township School District is considering starting its own online school in an effort to win back students who left to attend cyber charter schools and to offer more courses to students who attend its brick-and-mortar schools.

The online school, tentatively called VAST, or Virtual Academy Salisbury Township, would be operated in conjunction with the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit’s proposed Virtual Learning Program, which hopes to enlist other member school districts.

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Educational choice in Pa. expands, but vouchers remain out of reach

Pennsylvania boasts a robust charter school system that includes cyber charter schools; the Education Improvement Tax Credit, or EITC, which provides an average scholarship of $1,000 to low-income families who want their children to attend private schools; and rules that allow parents to teach their students at home.

The key is to improve education options, said Ken Kilpatrick, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools, which represents charter schools in the state.

“It’s families making a choice about what school will give my child the best educational future,” Kilpatrick said. “Competition is forcing districts to think about how they can improve.”

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Pennsylvania’s rating on charter schools slips

“In general, Pennsylvania law provides an environment that’s open to new startups, public school conversions and virtual schools,” he said.

More than 90,000 students are enrolled in 140 public charter schools, including 11 cyber charter schools, according to the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools. An estimated 30,000 students are on waiting lists.

Legislation pending in the state House would create an independent commission to authorize and oversee all charter and cyber charter schools statewide. Current law allows school boards to authorize or close brick-and-mortar charter schools. Since 1997, districts have closed just two charter schools, both in the Philadelphia area.

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York County students will have new cyber option designed to keep them in their districts

York, PA – Students in York County will soon have a new cyber school option, aimed partly at helping districts reclaim students who left for cyber charter schools.

The Lincoln Intermediate Unit 12 is starting a new cyber program that will be open first to any students in York County. The Lincoln Virtual Academy will open in January.

The cyber program will offer two options — an entirely online experience, or a program that would include one day each week at the York Learning Center for additional support and a social-emotional learning component.

A preliminary assessment at the start of the program would determine the students’ needs. Any exams, such as mid-terms or finals, would have to be supervised.

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Pa. cyber charter schools not passing test

Most cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania failed to make the grade on state standardized tests during the last school year, fanning the flames for critics who say they siphon money from traditional public schools.

But supporters of cyber charters say the tests do not show an accurate reflection of the programs.

Based on data from the 2010-11 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests, only two of the 11 cyber charters to take the PSSAs hit state-set benchmarks in reading and math. Among Berks County’s 18 public school districts, only Reading failed to hit those marks.

Dr. Jim Hanak, chief executive officer of Pa. Leadership Charter School, defended cyber charters such as the one he operates.

He said the PSSA tests are an unfair representation of how cyber charters are performing, pointing out that most of the students who take the test haven’t been enrolled at the cyber charter for their entire school careers.

Many, he said, come in behind in their studies or with severe learning or emotional issues that impact their performance in the classroom.

 

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Centennial Committee Hears Advantages of Online Courses

The Centennial School District spends about a half million dollars each year to send local youth to cyber charter schools, according to the state, and the district could save a significant portion of that by having its own online program.

That was the message Monday night from the the director of Bridges Virtual Education Services, who made a presentation to the school board’s education committee.

“There are over a dozen cyber schools in the commonwealth today, and more and more students … across the United States are selecting online learning. … There is a growing trend across the United States,” said Chris Harrington, the former director of technology and head of cyber education for Quakertown schools.

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