The PA House Education Committee recently passed House Bills 356 and 357, charter school expansion bills.

These bills strip communities of the ability to plan and exercise appropriate fiscal and academic oversight over their public education systems. They also weaken accountability, allow for the unfettered expansion of even the lowest performing charter schools, and fail to protect taxpayers and students from failing schools.

We expect that House Bills 356 and 357 will come up for a vote in the PA House in early June when lawmakers return to Harrisburg.

It is unacceptable that many lawmakers are ignoring pleas from their constituents for meaningful cyber charter school funding reform and instead are advancing legislation that would promote charter school expansion and significantly increase charter school tuition costs for taxpayers.

Our communities need lawmakers to fix cyber charter school funding to eliminate wasteful spending, save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, reduce pressure on property taxes, and help get critically needed resources into our children’s schools.

We need lawmakers to address cyber school performance and accountability and to provide charter school authorizers with the tools they need to ensure cyber charter and brick-and-mortar charter schools are providing students with a quality education.

Please take a minute and email your state representative to ask him/her to oppose House Bills 356 and 357 and to instead support cyber charter school funding reform.

Thank you!

Read our letter to PA lawmakers to learn more about this legislation.