Pennsylvania lawmakers have a chance to deliver real cyber charter reform—and they need to hear from you. House Bill 1500 just passed the PA House with bipartisan support, and now it's headed to the Senate. This bill would save school districts hundreds of millions of dollars, increase accountability and transparency for cyber charter schools, and ensure that public funds are used to support students—not bloated advertising budgets or luxury office spaces.

Use this form to send a message urging your Senator to support HB1500 and stand up for taxpayers and rein in cyber charter waste.

Highlights from House Bill 1500.

Click HERE for a more detailed summary.

Click HERE for estimates of how much each district would save with reforms in HB 1500.

Financial Accountability

• Establishes a statewide regular education tuition rate of $8000 per student and aligns special education tuition with actual costs using the same calculation that is used to fund school districts.
• Limits cybers’ unassigned fund balances to 12% of their annual operating budget (already a requirement for school districts) and requires that unassigned fund balances in excess of this amount be returned to school districts. Unassigned fund balances may not be used to pay bonuses or transferred to a cyber charter foundation.
• Ensures that districts will no longer pay tuition for students who do not live in their districts (or even in Pennsylvania) through clarification of residency verification.
• Requires cyber charters to have one administrative office. Cybers are prohibited from owning or having a financial interest in other offices and facilities without seeking an amendment to their charter and receiving approval from the department. (NOTE: This addresses concerns from the Auditor General’s report regarding the appropriateness of enormous expenditures on real estate and whether they align with the online platform unique to cyber charter schools, and ultimately, the intent of the Charter School Law).
• Revenue generated from the rent, lease or sale of charter-owned property shall be paid annually to school districts.

Transparency

• Requires all public school entities to report total expenditures for paid media and sponsorships of public events. The department will publicly post this information.
• Requires cybers to submit a report to the department that will be posted publicly that includes: a list of entities providing financing for capital projects, all expenditures for educational management service providers, the annual budget of the cybers, and data that validates student wellness checks.

Academic Accountability

• Requires that cyber charters notify families when their schools are designated low-achieving schools (already a requirement for school districts).
• Establishes enrollment parameters for cyber charter schools that are designated for comprehensive support and improvement (CSI). These are schools that face the most significant challenges related to academic, achievement, student growth, graduation rate, other areas. Any cyber charter with the CSI designation may not expand its enrollment beyond a 5% increase.

Additional measures

• Enacts a moratorium on new cyber charter schools in PA through the 2029-2030 school year.
• Clarifies language to ensure that cyber students will be seen on a camera once per week for a wellness check and requires cybers to provide documentation of their compliance with this requirement.
• Clarifies the powers of the department and issues related to cyber charter applications, renewals, and amendments to allow for these processes to work more effectively and smoothly going forward.