Educators debate Pa. House proposal to set flat cyber charter tuition rate

New Kensington-Arnold Superintendent Chris Sefcheck is encouraged to see the state House education committee move on legislation to set a flat tuition rate for cyber charter schools.

The district spent $3.3 million this past school year on tuition for 167 students who live in the area to attend one of the state’s 14 public cyber charter schools, Sefcheck said.

The funding system, developed in 2002, has felt more like a hurdle to many of the state’s 500 public schools — 94% of which have passed resolutions calling for cyber charter reform, according to the memo for House Bill 1500.

The legislation, created April 21, calls for a flat cyber charter tuition rate of $8,000 for regular education students — a motion included in Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed state budget for 2025-26.

Special education tuition could still exceed that rate.

“This bill represents a long overdue step toward fairness and fiscal responsibility when it comes to funding cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania,” Sefcheck said. “The flat tuition rate of $8,000 per regular student is a major improvement over the current model, which too often forces the school districts to pay inflated and inconsistent rates.”

But not every educator is pleased with the legislation passed by the committee Monday. Cyber school administrators such as Eileen Cannistraci fear the move would force the virtual schools to close.

“I do think this bill is pretty devastating to the students who are attending cyber charter schools,” said Cannistraci, CEO of Chester County-based Insight PA Cyber.

Cyber charters fear closure with change

Insight PA Cyber is one of 14 cyber charter schools educating 64,300 students statewide, according to recent Department of Education data. It receives about $11,000 to $14,000 per student in tuition from school districts, she said.

Dropping tuition to an $8,000 rate would cut Insight PA Cyber’s funding by about 30% to 35%, said Cannistraci, who began her more than 30-year education career in the Philadelphia School District.

The funding cut is amplified, she said, by a $190 million annual cut to cyber charters’ special education dollars, enacted Jan. 1.

“I don’t know how we would be able to provide free and appropriate public education to students at that rate,” Cannistraci said. “I would run out of money by next year to be able to pay my staff, provide those resources and programming.”

Pennsylvania’s school districts received about $23,000 per student in revenue during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Department of Education.

Tight budgets, accountability drive reform

But as Greensburg Salem eyes long-awaited upgrades to its decades-old buildings in the coming years, cyber charter tuition payments place the district in a bind, Superintendent Ken Bissell said.

“I’ve always felt that the cyber charter tuition rates were set way too high,” Bissell said. “They were far too costly, and that’s noticeable by looking at the fund balances that they have — spending to purchase tickets to events, gifts, advertising on television, billboards, other things, sponsoring exhibits at museums.”

Cyber charter schools are required in state law to advertise their existence to families, Cannistraci said.

“What people used to say about the (cyber) charters is that we were cherry picking only the best and brightest kids to come to our schools,” she said. “It does cost us money, but we’re obligated by law to make sure that families know about our school.”

Cyber charters tend to employ the same staff as brick-and-mortar schools, Cannistraci said — including teachers, school psychologists, nurses, social workers, special educators and paraprofessionals.

To meet state testing requirements, Insight PA Cyber pays for its students to be taken to a testing facility, whereas public school districts hold the exams in their buildings.

Greensburg Salem paid $11,462 per student in cyber tuition this past school year, Bissell said. Special education cyber costs were $24,273 per student.

The district has to close a $2.1 million gap in its 2025-26 budget, which includes $51.9 million in revenue and about $54 million in expenses.

Cyber charter tuition varies throughout the state, ranging from $7,600 per student to nearly $29,000 per student, according to the Department of Education. It is determined by a formula based on the school district’s budgeted expenses from the year prior.

Bissell would like to see more transparency on spending from cyber charter schools.

“Right now,” he said, “I don’t know that there’s a whole lot of oversight on that public dollar spending.”

The House legislation addresses this concern, proposing additional restrictions and transparency surrounding cyber charter expenses. It also would establish a cyber charter school funding and policy council.

PA Cyber Charter School CEO Brian Hayden believes there is already plenty of accountability and transparency for cyber school expenses.

Cyber schools, he said, are required to pass a budget, report it to the state and receive an expense audit, similar to brick-and-mortar public schools.

Auditor General Timothy DeFoor released an audit of five of the state’s cyber charter schools this year. Though the audit questioned some of the schools’ expenses, none were deemed illegal or inappropriate.

Traditional schools also are being questioned for how they spend their money, Hayden said.

“Every single public school could have that issue. There’s school districts that are being questioned for spending $25 million on football stadium renovations,” he said. “That’s legal. That’s appropriate, but it may not be how some people want to spend their education dollars.”

Norwin School Board received backlash in April for approving — in a divided vote — a $25 million renovation of its high school stadium.

Hayden does not know how PA Cyber would educate its 11,100 students under an $8,000 tuition rate — which is $4,500 per student less than what the Beaver County-based school received this year.

“We’d have to look at every program, every service, every staff member that we have and try to determine how we can use those fewer dollars in the best way to support our students,” he said. “It’s not a place that any of us want to be.”

‘It’s about the students’

None of the educators — Sefcheck, Bissell, Cannistraci or Hayden — have heard discussions in their circles about changing the cyber charter funding formula to bypass school districts.

As the bill heads to a vote before the full House, Hayden wishes cyber charters were consulted in drafting the legislation.

“None of this was discussed with us. They didn’t get our feedback. They didn’t get our input,” he said. “They didn’t get any factual information from us.”

Discussions of cyber charter reform have largely focused on money — a trend Cannistraci believes needs to change.

“It’s about the students, and I know (superintendents) are trying to advocate for their students,” she said. “But we serve students that are in their district, and these are students with high needs.”

Special education students, teen mothers and those struggling with mental health or bullying make up a significant portion of Insight PA Cyber’s enrollment base, Cannistraci said.

“You see these students who would not have gotten that high school diploma, so many of them,” she said, “if they didn’t have this option.

“I think that’s what disheartens me sometimes — the disregard of what this actually would mean for kids.”

On the other hand, Greensburg Salem’s Bissell is hopeful the legislation makes its way to the Senate for a vote.

“I’m very hopeful that the Senate takes a strong look at it,” he said, “especially from the angle of, ‘How are public tax dollars being spent for public education?’”