CHARTER CHANGE? Districts, parents at odds over Senate Bill 34
As school budget deadlines approach, administrators in Butler County districts bemoan payments to cyber charter schools and hope for legislative change.
Meanwhile, some Butler parents with children enrolled in cyber schools hope the state maintains its current arrangement.
The two biggest school districts in Butler County each have their own bone to pick with cyber charters.
At Seneca Valley, administrators argue that their own in-house cyber program is better, yet some of their dollars still flow outward to cyber charters.
Meanwhile, at Butler School District, administrators say big payments to private schools are exacerbating their money problems.
At their Monday meeting, Butler school directors rallied around a state Senate bill as a solution. Senate Bill 34, introduced by Berks County Democrat Judith Schwank, would allow school districts that run their own cyber programs to stop paying for students to attend another cyber charter school.“The most impactful thing everyone in this room can do to impact taxes and or class sizes is knock on your state legislator's door and talk about State Senate Bill 34,” said Superintendent Brian White.School directors in Butler brought up cyber charters when discussing budget line items.“We have the money to get those extra teachers,” said director Gary Shingleton. “We do. But we don't, because 200 of our students leave and go to Pennsylvania Cyber School or somewhere else.”Shingleton wasn't alone.“The thing that upsets me a lot about these cyber schools is they have an advertising budget,” said director Suzie Bradrick. “Can you imagine seeing a commercial on TV for you to attend the Butler School District? I would choke you if we were spending money on TV ads.”Naturally, SB 34 is about as unpopular with cyber charter schools as cyber charter schools are with the Butler School Board. PA Cyber CEO Brian Hayden said traditional public school officials misrepresent schools like his.“Traditional school superintendents just like to put stuff out there without any understanding of what we do,” Hayden said.
PA Cyber is a big fish in the local cyber charter pond. Taxpayers within the Butler School District pay for 128 general education students and 35 special education students enrolled in PA Cyber classes. In the 2017-18 school year alone, the district paid PA Cyber $1.8 million. This amount does not include other cyber schools paid by the district. As of last month, the district already paid just PA Cyber $1.6 million this year.Projections put next school year's price tag to all cyber charter schools like PA Cyber in the ballpark of about $3.7 million.The school board and White are bothered by the specific rates paid to schools like PA Cyber, because they say cyber schools have much lower costs than brick and mortar operations.“We're charging what state law permits us to charge,” Hayden countered. “It's not as though we randomly picked tuition rates. The Legislature picked it.”At the state level, complaints about cyber charters revolve around more than money.Many cyber charter schools produce extremely poor graduation rates. The most recent graduation data provided by the state Department of Education is for the 2016-17 school year. During that year, PA Cyber had a 50.3 percent graduation rate, compared to Butler School District's 84 percent rate. Agora Cyber and Achievement House Cyber, two other cyber schools serving area students, posted graduation rates of 45.2 percent and 48.8 percent, respectively.PA Cyber in particular earned some infamy in 2016 after its founder, Nicholas Trombetta, pleaded guilty to tax conspiracy for funneling $8 million from the school to his businesses between 2006 and 2013.
At the Seneca Valley School District, Superintendent Tracy Vitale takes up arms over issues of accountability.“In some cases, students may have poor attendance,” Vitale said. “I've personally driven to those student's homes. We hold students accountable. Who does that in a cyber charter?”Hayden said PA Cyber representatives don't drive to the homes of students who miss class, but they do try and make contact.“We do not allow the students to stay on the roster without making every attempt we can to contact that family,” Hayden said.On the contrary, both Vitale and White said they have an ongoing problem where cyber charter students in their district move out of the county or state but don't let anyone know. Butler County taxpayers continue paying for their schooling without knowing any better.“We have these cases every year,” Vitale said. “We try to track them down. I worry that some of the smaller schools don't have the resources to.”
Seneca Valley's been engaged in a quiet war with cyber charters for years. Nowadays, they pay cyber charters about $1.7 million a year. Vitale thinks offering their own program significantly cut the number going to charters.“For our size, to only have 100 kids enrolled in cyber charters is pretty much unheard of,” she said.Vitale said their program was born partially out of an attempt to not “be held hostage by the state,” but district officials have since realized the value of cyber programs. They just think traditional school districts can handle the job better.That gets at the argument participating parents give in favor of charters and against SB 34. Their appeal is wrapped up in escaping their school district.Kasey McKinnis, a mother of five in Butler Township, said she pulled her kids out of McQuistion Elementary when the Butler School District consolidated. Now, all five are cyber charter students.“I understand where they're coming from, but if I wanted my kids at the Butler School District, they'd be there,” McKinnis said. “Just because they offer a cyber program doesn't mean it's the best program for my kids.”Her five children range from kindergarten to eighth grade. The oldest, 14-year-old Morgan, said she made the switch to an online education easily.
“I normally sat alone at the lunch table,” she said. “I normally read a book at recess.”Now, she does her work when she wants to and fills her schedule with more advanced classes, like American Sign Language. She's about to start high school, which doesn't scare her much. Nor does college concern her.“It will definitely be a little different at first,” Morgan said.McKinnis said she'd struggle if online education quit getting public school funding because the family wouldn't be able to afford private school for their children.Her children get their physical education credits through a gym program at their church. They go on field trips with other cyber students, opening the door to opportunities to meet their teachers that they usually communicate with through microphones and keyboards.Joylnn DeLong, another Butler County mom of cyber charter students, said free or not, her four children won't return to a regular school.“If a bill like that were to pass, my husband and I would pay to put our kids in PA Cyber,” DeLong said. “We won't bring them back to the Butler School District.”It isn't anything personal with Butler, she said. And she isn't surprised that local educators support the bill.“Of course they're going to support the bill,” DeLong said. “They obviously need or want the money. But when I look at children, I don't look and see dollar signs. I see what kind of education system fits them best.”DeLong's husband, Bryan, is another firm believer.“I think they're the way of the future,” Bryan said. “Each kid is allocated a certain amount of money. Why should it matter where it goes?”Their four children do their coursework from bedrooms, the living room and the kitchen table.It's been especially helpful for their oldest, an 18-year-old with autism.“He's never complained, and he gets good grades,” Joylnn said.
The Butler Eagle reached out to staff for two state senators from the area for comment and did not receive return calls from Sen. Scott Hutchinson, R-20th.Sen. Elder Vogel, R-47th, said in a statement that he has heard from students, parents, teachers and school administrators from both Butler and Seneca Valley, as well as charter schools, about the impact online schooling has on students. He appreciates the concept of SB 34 and believes the bill should be fully examined by the education committee to ensure the students' needs are put first.“Cyber education is an important option for many students across Pennsylvania and in my district,” Vogel said. “I believe SB 34 is a part of a larger conversation that is taking place in Harrisburg on how best to fund charter schools, both online and physical locations, while ensuring school districts have enough state funding.”
