George Will’s April 24 column “Crippling charter schools” falsely states that “charter schools are the most accountable public schools.” In fact charters make up 6% of public schools in Pennsylvania but account for about 25% of the lowest performing schools. They have a large negative effect on the test scores of white students, and cyber charters have a larger consistent negative effect on all outcomes.
In 2021, Pennsylvania spent $3 billion of taxpayer money on charters with little oversight. They have no elected school boards, no budget audit and few regulations. Charters receive generous funds from school districts but have few of their costs. Charters are a shell game; they may be nonprofit, but they hire for-profit management companies to operate the school. They game the system. They pilfer money and students from cash-strapped district schools.
Pennsylvania’s flawed and outdated charter school law is regarded as one of the worst in the nation. Gov. Tom Wolf has proposed a plan to save nearly $400 million a year in the overpaying of charters. His plan would hold low-performing charters accountable and would increase their transparency. However, our state legislators again are refusing to cooperate and continue their obstruction.
Before you vote, find out where the candidate stands on vouchers and charters. Don’t let them use our tax dollars to privatize our children’s education just to make some millionaire even more wealthy.
Julia Bojalad
North Huntingdon