From Public Citizens for Children and Youth (http://www.pccy.org):
Charter schools spend twice as much as district-run public schools do in administration costs. Charters pay their top officials far more. And since 2007, district reimbursements to charters have outpaced actual charter enrolment. These are only some of the findings in Pennsylvania School Boards Association’s new report on charter schools in the commonwealth.
The report isn’t an attack on charter schools, a PSBA analyst told media, but added that “charter schools need to be held to the same standards of accountability and transparency as traditional public schools.”
Whether you’re a public school booster or a charter school champion (or both), we all want our publicly funded education system to provide our students with the quality education they’re owed and do so by leveraging funding with efficiency and impact.
The report raises some very serious questions, many of which may be answered by a long sought-after solution: new charter legislation. Earlier this summer, House Bill 530 came close to reforming what the state Auditor General famously declared as “the worst charter law in the United States.” But HB 530 proved too problematic to pass and legislators jettisoned the bill to pass the state budget. The work must continue if our children are to find greater success in whichever school they attend.
See also:
Newsworks: Seeking accountability, states revise charter school laws
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