73 Montco School Directors Sign Statement On Charter Reform

POTTSTOWN, PA — A Pottstown School Board Director is one of 73 across Montgomery County who have signed a statement calling for charter school reform.

"The time is now for Pennsylvania charter school reform. As a school director, I see firsthand how the current charter structure imposes an unnecessary burden on local students and taxpayers," said Laura Johnson, Pottstown School Board Director.

Patch is publishing the statement in full here:

"It's no secret that Pennsylvania’s public schools and taxpayers have been under serious pressure because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus and the mitigation efforts have strained our education system and our economy in profound ways, impacting each community member, from the children in our schools to seniors on fixed incomes. As school board members from around Montgomery County, we have seen up close just how overwhelming some of these challenges have been.

As we look ahead at the state budget season, we know our lawmakers will have many difficult decisions to make. However, we suggest that one decision is actually quite straightforward:

Enacting Common Sense Charter School Reform will reduce the strain on students and taxpayers alike without costing the Commonwealth a cent or eliminating school choice.

Each of us has been elected to oversee the wise use of tax dollars and ensure a quality education for every student in our district. Yet while we try to do our job, we find we have no control or oversight of the charter tuition that is siphoned away from our schools. Unfair and unreasonable mandates regarding cyber charter payments have meant that public schools have had to pay tuition far above the level that it costs to educate a cyber student. Even more egregious are the grossly inequitable special education charter rates that public schools are mandated to pay even for students who require very few services. For example, the Methacton School District is forced to send $38,324 for each special education student, even when their only extra service is speech therapy once a week. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that charters often spend special education tuition on expenses that have nothing to do with special education.

These excessive charges hurt students in the public schools. Each dollar that is taken for a charter school is a dollar that isn’t available for curriculum, AP courses, music classes, co-curriculars, and guidance counselors. Some of our schools struggle with overcrowded classrooms, some with a shortage of special education support. These problems are tough to remedy when there is no money left to hire new teachers or aides.

Unreasonable charter payments hurt the local taxpayer as well, particularly homeowners with low or fixed incomes.

Pennsylvania relies very heavily on local property taxes to pay for public education, which means those taxes must be raised to cover rising charter payments. This situation can have some alarming consequences for local school districts. For example, between 2012 and 2017, every dollar Pottstown raised in new property tax revenue went to pay for the increase in mandated charter payments, and even then money had to be diverted from the classroom to cover charter tuition. Despite being responsible for charter expenses, the local school districts have no control over those charter costs - the bills get sent and we must pay them. This puts both local school boards and taxpayers in a powerless situation.

For many districts, this problem has become particularly clear this school year as cyber charters have used the pandemic as a business opportunity to acquire new “customers” on the taxpayers dime. Cyber charters have been investing their taxpayer dollars on massive advertising campaigns and have seen a 59 percent spike in enrollment in this last year.

Cyber charters schools, as a group, are among the poorest performing schools in the state and have little oversight or accountability. Families who choose cyber schools may do so for individual or non-academic reasons, a choice we respect. However, we shouldn't have to ask taxpayers to pay two or three times as much for students who go to these schools, particularly when districts have almost universally created their own quality virtual options.

Many of our districts will be compelled to raise property taxes during this pandemic simply to cover the increase in excessive charter costs. This tax increase is effectively a Charter Fee on every taxpayer in the district.

Governor Wolf’s proposed budget plan calls for fundamental charter school reform which includes accountability measures and a per pupil reimbursement in line with actual costs. Lawmakers in Harrisburg have a duty to support a quality education for all students and to protect taxpayers from financial exploitation. They can do this by supporting Common Sense Charter School Reform."

The statement is signed by 73 Montgomery County School Directors:

Laura Johnson, Pottstown School District
Tina Stoll, North Penn School District
Katina Bearden, Pottstown School District
Amy Bathurst Francis, Pottstown School District
Steve Kline, Pottstown School District
Jennifer Iannitti, Upper Dublin School District
Stan Ropski, Upper Dublin School District
Sue Lawrence, Pottstown School District
Denise (DJ) Schultz, Hatboro-Horsham School District
Michael Berardi, Lower Moreland Township School District
Amy Francek, Upper Dublin School District
Sarah Evans-Brockett, Perkiomen Valley School District
Wayde M. Weston, Ph.D., Perkiomen Valley School District
Judy Lofton, Perkiomen Valley School District John J Armato Pottstown School District
Beth Roberts, Perkiomen Valley School District
Al Roesch, North Penn School District
Melanie Cunningham, Upper Perkiomen School District
Dr. Charles Nippert, Pottsgrove School District
Ron Stoloff, Wissahickon School District
Jonathan Kassa, North Penn School District
Karen Taratuski Psy.D, School District of Springfield Township
Darlene G. Davis, Ed.D., Upper Dublin School District
Thomas Hylton, Pottstown School Board
Tim MacBain, North Penn School District
Walter Lapidus, School District of Springfield Township
Wanda Lewis-Campbell, Ed.D., North Penn School District
Christian Fusco, North Penn School District
Cathy Wesley, North Penn School District
Juliane Ramic, North Penn School District
Cathy Peduzzi, Colonial School District
Bill England, MSW, Cheltenham School District
Joel I. Fishbein, Cheltenham School District
Bonita L. Barnhill, Pottstown School District
Laurie Actman, Lower Merion School District
Julie Haywood, Cheltenham School District
Eunice Franklin-Becker, MPH, Colonial School DIstrict
Rosemary Northcutt, Colonial School District
Andrea Rees, Methacton School District
Neil DiFranco, School District of Springfield Township
Tamar Klaiman, Abington School District
Melissa M. Mowry, Ph.D., Abington School District
Adam M. Share, Abington School District
Jeffrey Wallack, Upper Dublin School District
Mary Hull, Methacton School District
Shameeka Browne, Abington School District
Shae Ashe, Norristown Area School District
Elizabeth Drummond, Methacton School District
Gretchen Slapinsky, School District of Springfield Township
Ashley Custer, Pottsgrove School District
Jennifer Wilson, Hatboro-Horsham School District
Donna Scheuren, Souderton Area School District
Stephen M. Nelson, Souderton Area School District
Matt Holliday, Souderton Area School District
Courtney Barbieri, RN, Souderton Area School District
William J Brong Souderton Area School District
Thomas Kwiatkowski Souderton Area School District
Ken Keith Souderton Area School District
Nicholas Braccio, Souderton Area School District
Mike Elliott, Upper Perkiomen School District
Rose A. Huber, Upper Moreland Township School District
Cherie Kuech, Upper Moreland Township School District
Albert J. DerMovsesian, Upper Moreland Township School District
LouCrecie Garlanger, Upper Moreland Township School District
Jennifer Solot, Upper Moreland Township School District
Jeffrey Greb, Upper Moreland Township School District
Gregory D’Elia, Upper Moreland Township School District
April Stainback, Upper Moreland Township School District
Paul Tkacs, Upper Moreland Township School District
Janet Flisak, Souderton Area School District
Ken Keith Souderton Area School District
Kimberley Mares, Perkiomen Valley School District
Christina Melton, Spring-Ford Area School District

More information can be found at: https://www.pacharterchange.org.