STATE ACTION ON CHARTERS IS BAD NEWS
Chronically underfunded school districts like Bethlehem, Chester-Upland, and Philadelphia have a legitimate ax to grind when it comes to payments to charter schools. Charter school enrollment continues to grow but the state legislature refuses to fully reimburse districts for charter school costs. Worse yet, state law requires school districts to pay charters even when the state has failed to release any funds to districts for this school year.
As a result, the Bethlehem School Board recently voted to withhold 30% of payments to charters, citing the ongoing budget stalemate in Harrisburg. A Court of Common Pleas judge overruled a plan by the Governor to reduce payments to charters in Chester-Upland, and Philadelphia’s School Reform Commission was also unsuccessful in convincing a Commonwealth Court to allow the district to limit charter school enrollment.
Without question, charter school payments are a major burden for all three school districts, and in too many cases, the charters they are paying are doing a very poor job of educating students.
Finally, charter operators are beginning to hear the public call for reform to more quickly close poorly performing charters. Philadelphia Charters for Excellence released a report today calling on the School Reform Commission and the legislature to streamline the process to close underperforming charter schools. The report points out that there are 1,300 charter schools nationwide that are among the lowest 15% of schools within their state and the situation in Philadelphia mirrors that trend. The report points out that closing an underperforming charter school in Philadelphia often requires costly court hearings, reviews and appeals that can drag on for years.
The report is mostly chockful of good recommendations for culling out failing charters, but it also calls for the passage of a state law that would permit the state to authorize charters directly. The last thing we need in Philadelphia is another state-appointed board making local decisions about our schools. Let’s keep it local and empower the SRC to decide the best course of action, be it closing poorly performing district-run or charter schools.
THINK FUNDING FOR SCHOOLS DOESN’T MATTER?
Money matters when it comes to school funding. Don’t think so? Try this stat on for size:
As state education funding in Pennsylvania increased by 40% from 2003-2010, test scores in the lowest-achieving districts increased by 50%. Conversely, as state funding was cut in 2011 and our system grew more inequitable without a formula, state test scores dropped and the achievement gap did not close.
Click here to read the findings of a new report released by the Campaign for Fair Education Funding.
WANT TO MATCH YOUR PASSION WITH ACTION?
With rising rates of child poverty, more and more children are struggling. You can make a difference in the lives of our region’s children by volunteering for the 7th annual Give Kids Sight Day to be held on Saturday, October 24th, 2015 from 8:30 am – 2:00 pm on the campus of Jefferson Medical College. PCCY will team up with Wills Eye Hospital, Eagles Youth Partnership, Visionworks, and First Hospital Foundation to provide free eye exams and glasses to all children on a first-come first serve basis. We are expecting to help more than 1,000 children at this year’s event, so we need as many volunteers as possible. Click here to sign up.
ONLY 70 SEATS LEFT!
Limited seats remain for a special performance of School Play this Wednesday, September 16th at 7:00 pm at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre on Broad Street. Tickets are free, but we’re almost sold out! Click here to reserve your seats today!