North Hills School Board Calls for Cyber Charter Funding Reform

The North Hills School Board recently approved a resolution calling for cyber charter school funding reform to rectify tuition inequities. Pennsylvania’s current funding formula is not based on actual instructional costs, and tuition paid to cyber charter schools far exceeds the cost of educating a student.

“North Hills cyber charter school expenditures for the past five years reflect extraordinary costs that are borne nearly entirely by Ross and West View taxpayers,” said Dr. Patrick J. Mannarino, North Hills superintendent.

“As school districts find their budgets tightened, Pennsylvania’s flawed and overly generous funding formula has become too large of a burden for North Hills School District and our taxpayers."

Since 2008, North Hills has paid $4,106,903 to cyber charter schools and only $471,639 or 11 percent of those funds have been reimbursed by the state. North Hills School District spends $10,436 per student in a general education program at a cyber charter school. The cost for a special education student is nearly twice that amount at $19,952.

Additionally, school districts are required to pay cyber charter schools for pension costs according to the formula. However, the state also reimburses the cyber charter schools for up to 50 percent of their pension costs allowing those institutions to “double-dip” and receive payment for the same costs twice.

Former Auditor General Jack Wagner has stated that Pennsylvania could save $365 million in taxpayer money by adopting separate charter and cyber charter school funding formulas similar to those in other states and closing an administrative loophole that permits double-dipping in pension payments.

On average, Wagner found that Pennsylvania cyber charter schools received $13,411 per student, and they spent an average of $10,145, reflecting their lower operating costs. Wagner also found that the funds spent by Pennsylvania cyber charter schools were $3,500 above the national average of $6,500.

North Hills supports online learning and has developed its curriculum into the Online Academy @ North Hills to offer students the options of online education and blended learning opportunities.

Do you agree that the current funding system for cyber charter school should be changed? Share your thoughts in the comments box below.

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