Cyber Charter Schools

Education Advocate Articles

July/August 2001                     “The Cyber Option”

“…You cannot stop an idea whose time has come.”    Victor Hugo

        When the steel mills of Western Pennsylvania closed in the early 1980’s, the small town of Midland and its school district faced an eroding economy with an aging and diminishing population.   When the local high school was forced to close in 1985, Midland’s attempts to consolidate with adjacent school districts failed.   The remedy was a short-lived tuition agreement with a nearby school district.   When that was terminated, Midland was forced to bus their high school students to East Liverpool, Ohio.   It is out of this small town’s struggle that an innovative educational paradigm emerged – the Western Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School (WPCCS).  

        WPCCS represents the convergence of strong forces:   advancing technology, a mounting desire for education options, and a rapidly evolving charter school movement.   WPCCS and other cyber schools across the state have emerged as “an idea whose time has come.”

        Although Midland superintendent Dr. Nick Trombetta’s original intent was to bring opportunities back home to the displaced students of Midland, WPCCS has created a frenzy in education as applications from underserved students have flooded the cyber school.

              A snapshot of a cyber school student might include:

•  Special needs students for whom inclusion has not been successful

•  Students who do not thrive in a structured, traditional model

•  Pregnant teens and teen mothers who need to balance school,

   motherhood and employment

•  Elementary school students whose parents desire more traditional

   instruction

•  Gifted students who are better served by advanced courses

•  Expelled students who are at-risk of dropping out

•  Students who are concerned with safety issues in schools

•  Students who want a career-specific curriculum to supplement the

   core requirements

•  Home-bound and home schooled children

              Despite this wide variation, successful cyber school students are self-motivated learners who have full parental support and oversight.

Flexibility makes a cyber school attractive to students and their parents:

          ~      Flexibility to transcend socioeconomic and geographic constraints

~     Flexibility in selecting from several world-class curricula

~     Flexibility in scheduling since school is available 24/7 year round

~     Flexibility for students to work at their own pace

        The most important asset of cyber schools like WCPPS may be the opportunity for students to utilize 21 st Century technology , enabling them to access cutting-edge opportunities.

How has the education community received innovative cyber schools?

        One can safely say that “there has been a disturbance in the force”!   Even though the number of students attending cyber schools is quite small, their growing popularity coupled with the battle over funding has upset the status quo. The initial result has been a flurry of legislative activity, hearings, and even a lawsuit inside the Harrisburg beltway.

        The main concern is financial as the tax dollars of the student’s home district go to WPCCS according to a formula prescribed by the Pennsylvania charter school regulations.   Other factors are also emerging as various groups try to protect their education turf.  

        Although the future guidelines for cyber schools may evolve in the legislature and through the courts, one certainty exists:   cyber schools are an idea whose time has come; there is no turning back.

November/December 2001        

“PA Legislature tackles cyber education”

        Cyber charter schools continue to be a hot education topic in Pennsylvania.

        Although cyber schools are established as charter schools by local school boards, enrollment is open to students across the state.   Discontent arose last school year when local districts received bills for their students attending cyber schools.   Many districts cried foul – stating that they did not know how many of their students were enrolled in cyber schools and therefore had not budgeted for these expenses.   When school districts refused to pay the cyber schools, the PA Department of Education decided to withhold money from state school district subsidies and make direct payments to the cyber schools.

        The Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) joined with four school districts in April to sue the Department of Education for these deductions.   The case is still pending.

        The legislature is now involved with the cyber school issues as two important bills are being discussed.   Both will drastically change the process by which cyber schools are created and administered.

HB 1733 moves the responsibility of approving cyber schools from local districts to the PA Department of Education, which will license, monitor and fund them.   Detailed rules and regulations, all controlled by the DOE, are outlined in this bill.   Once a cyber school receives a five-year state license, students from any district in the state may enroll.

SB 891 requires cyber schools to enter into an agreement with each local school district to permit students to enroll.   The State Board of Education will regulate cyber schools by setting minimum standards.   Local districts will pay cyber schools directly.   The state will withhold state subsidies from districts that refuse to make payments for their enrolled students.

        Adding to the cyber school frenzy, two reports evaluating Pennsylvania’s seven cyber charter schools have been released recently.

        The Pennsylvania School Boards Association’s (PSBA) White Paper on Cyber Schools is primarily a defense of their court case.   “The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the dramatic and costly impact of cyber schools, as thousands of former home-schoolers and other students enroll in these programs.” (p. 2)   Focusing on financial issues, the report portrays cyber schools as an illegal drain on education funding and lobbies for separate legislation controlling cyber schools.   (The report is available at www.psba.org .)

        In October the PA Department of Education released Cyber Charter Schools Review , a report ordered by the State Legislature in June.   While applauding cyber schools as a developing, viable form of school choice, the report offers many recommendations for improvement:

•  The State should establish uniform tuition amounts and financial reporting.

•  Home districts should be notified when a student enrolls so the cost can be anticipated.

•  Cyber charter applications should include more information on curriculum alignment with state standards and the PSSA, student materials, privacy and security matters, and accountability for student work and hours, etc.

Clearly, this report supports the Department’s stand that cyber schools are legal charter schools .   (The complete report is at www.pde.psu.edu .)

        While the Legislature, Department of Education and PSBA digest these divergent reports, the basic question remains:   Are cyber schools legitimate charter schools that need to be strengthened and improved or are cyber schools illegal charter schools that need new, separate legislation?

        As these turf wars escalate it is important to focus on two important participants – the student and parent.   Unfortunately, the PSBA report never mentions the academic and social benefits for students whose parents select this public school choice program for their children.   Although the Department of Education report alludes to the numerous reasons students prefer cyber schools, it limits the parent’s choice of curriculum by recommending that all cyber school curricula be aligned with state standards and the PSSA.   This effectively forces cyber schools to select only progressivist, reform-model curricula thereby eliminating parents interested in a traditional curriculum.

        Cyber schools are here to stay.   They offer customized, innovative education to children who have not flourished in conventional public schools.   Recognizing the problems, evaluating recommendations, and implementing positive changes will allow cyber schools to develop into a public school choice that will meet the needs of many families in PA.   To accomplish this, educators, legislators, bureaucrats and parents must work together for the children.