House Democrats unveil sweeping education bill to fix Pa.’s school funding and slash cyber charter payments
“Funding the cost of a public education system is the only task that is enshrined in the Constitution that we’re required to do,” State Rep. Mike Sturla, former chairman of the committee tasked with reimagining Pennsylvania’s school funding system, said during Tuesday’s committee hearing. “If we did not fund anything else in the budget, no one could take us to court and find that we were in violation of the constitution.
It would also make long-sought cuts by public education advocates to the tuition rates that school districts pay cyber charters — setting a flat per-pupil rate of $8,000 for most students. Currently, districts pay cyber charters between $8,639 to $26,564, depending on the district’s own per-pupil spending — which varies widely between communities.
Charter advocates have opposed tuition rate cuts, which they say would deal a “crushing blow” to charter students.