Letter to the editor: Addressing cyber charter funding

I am a parent of a special education student in Pittsburgh Public Schools. Like so many across our state, I want my child — and others like them — to attend public schools that are safe, welcoming, thriving and rich with the resources our young people need to dream and achieve.

For this promise to become a reality, our elected leaders must ensure that all public schools, whether charter or traditional, are held to the same standards of accountability and transparency.

Right now, lawmakers are considering HB 1500, a measure that would address loopholes allowing cyber charters to operate with little oversight while running some of the lowest-performing schools in the state.

Today, districts like Pittsburgh pay wildly different tuition rates for the same internet-based education — $6,975 to $25,150 per regular education student and up to $60,000 for a student receiving special education. These inflated costs siphon dollars from already-struggling districts, hurting schools like mine.

Instead of hiring a full-time school nurse or an extra counselor, Pittsburgh and similar districts are forced to write large checks to cyber charters that offer subpar instruction. At a cost of over $1 billion statewide, this broken system enriches operators while draining public schools.

HB 1500 would set new limits on how cyber charters stockpile funds and operate. I urge lawmakers to pass it — now — for my student and every student like them.

Moira Kaleida

Brookline

The writer is national director for the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools and a former member of the Pittsburgh Public Schools board of directors.