Seneca Valley Urges Legislators to Oppose Public Funding for Cyber Charter Schools

officials on Monday approved a resolution opposing payment of public funds to charter and cyber charter schools.

Voting by phone because he is out-of-town on military reserves duty, board member Eric Gordon voted against the measure. 

State law requires tax dollars to follow students who leave their local public schools for alternative institutions. The amount the district pays in tuition per student is based on a formula from the state Department of Education which takes into account the cost of educating the student divided by the number of students in that school.

For Seneca Valley, that cost is $8,787 per regular education student, said Lynn Burtner, Seneca Valley’s business manager. For a special education student, the amount jumps to $18,164 per pupil.

Burtner estimated 165 students are attending outside charter and cyber charter schools this year at a cost of $1.7 million. She expects the amount to remain the same for the 2012-13 school year.

“The administration brought this resolution to the board because we felt it was important for tax payers to understand that their dollars are going to charter and cyber charter schools to pay for student tuition,” district spokeswoman Linda Andreassi said. “Additionally, there is no evaluation of the qualification or effectiveness of teachers in charter and cyber charter schools.

With the district facing a Superintendent Dr. Tracy Vitale said money paid to charter and cyber schools could be used as a cost-saving measure for the district—including retaining staff positions.

At Monday’s school board meeting, Of those, 11 were teaching positions, including several positions that will not be filled once three employees retire. The board also eliminated positions for the assistant director of buildings and grounds, a paraprofessional for the secondary gifted program and the attendance officer.

“You get about 15 teachers for a million dollars in Seneca valley,” Vitale said at last week’s school board workshop meeting. “That’s how many teaching positions we’re talking about.”

The resolution passed Monday stated the district is opposed to public funds going to charter and to cyber charter schools because those schools do not have accountability for spending, student achievement or teacher certification.

Gordon said voting against the measure was a tough choice for him.

"I feel that taxpayers should have the ability to choose where their kids goes," he said. "However, I want the legislature to either hold all publicly-funded schools to the same current standards or, better yet, reduce state mandates to allow brick-and-mortars to operate more like the cyber charters."

Seneca Valley has had its own cyber school for students for several years. Last spring, the district also introduced the Seneca Valley Cyber and Arts: the Academy of Choice program, to the middle-school level. It also

Seneca Valley officials have said the difference between its cyber service and others is that the district program meets required public school requirements. Classes also are taught by state-certified teachers and the program offers graduates a diploma.

The resolution approved Monday will be sent to local and state legislators and to Gov. Tom Corbett. It also urges elected officials to support any legislation created, “That relieves the financial burden on school districts created by charter and cyber charter school.”

“Our legislators need to understand and they need to do something about the funding formula that is taking jobs from Seneca Valley and, ultimately, taking our kids,” Vitale said at the workshop meeting. “And in those cyber charters, they don’t even have certified teachers—we do.”

The resolution also directs Vitale to urge the state Department of Education to work with the Pennsylvanian School Boards Association to draft legislation requiring charter and cyber charter schools to demonstrate the same transparency offered at Seneca Valley when it comes to administrative decisions, student achievement and financial accountability.

“Our sincere hope is that such a resolution will begin to be adopted by all public schools, raising the level of awareness,” Andreassi said. “Ultimately, we need our elected officials to begin to address these important concerns.”