Letter to the editor: Tom Wolf right to act on charter schools

I am writing to inform op-ed writer Colleen Cook (“Tom Wolf’s attack on charter schools unfair”) that Gov. Tom Wolf’s attempt to fix the problems with the state’s charter schools is spot on, particularly those that are cybercharter schools.

While your son has benefited from taking his classes this way, many do not. Want proof? Go to the Pennsylvania Department of Education website and look up the graduation rates of these charter and cybercharter schools. It is rare to find a charter cyberschool with a graduation rate above 60%. While many charter schools are very successful, some have poor graduation rates.

Most public high schools have graduation rates around 80-90%. The state puts the average graduation rate of all the state’s schools at 86% for the 2016-17 school year. The state also has a program to push future graduation rates up to 92%. Many charter schools are already there, as are the traditional district high schools. Cybercharter schools don’t even come close.

Richard Patton

Franklin Township, Beaver County