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{"id":3214,"date":"2019-08-15T23:41:15","date_gmt":"2019-08-16T03:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mywlri.com\/?p=3214"},"modified":"2019-08-15T23:41:15","modified_gmt":"2019-08-16T03:41:15","slug":"gov-wolf-proposes-pa-charter-school-reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wnuz.org\/gov-wolf-proposes-pa-charter-school-reforms\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Wolf Proposes PA Charter-School Reforms"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Group of kids going to school together<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By: Andrea Sears<\/p>\n

HARRISBURG, Pa. – Education advocates are praising the new regulations and legislation proposed by Gov. Tom Wolf to reform Pennsylvania charter schools.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the governor announced his plans to improve the financial accountability and academic performance of charters. According to Raynelle Brown Staley, policy director at the\u00a0Education Law Center<\/a>, many charter schools have failed to live up to their promise of improved services for students who may need more help to succeed.<\/p>\n

“Students with disabilities, students who are English learners, students who are in poverty are not being equitably served by charters,” says Staley.<\/p>\n

The governor is directing the Department of Education to develop regulations targeting academic accountability and enrollment, and says he’ll propose funding-reform legislation in the fall.<\/p>\n

Staley points out that the per-student costs of charters exceed the reduction of costs from lower enrollment in regular public schools, and says funding for online or “cyber charters” doesn’t reflect their lower operating expenses.<\/p>\n

“Cyber charters, which operate without physical facilities, are still receiving the same amount of payment as a school that has to maintain a physical facility and provide all of the services associated with that,” says Staley.<\/p>\n

Gov. Wolf says over the past ten years, the student population of charter schools has increased by 95%, but the tax dollars spent on them have increased 135%.<\/p>\n

Past legislative attempts to fix the charter-school funding system haven’t passed, and the governor’s proposals are likely to face stiff opposition from the charter lobby. Staley says that makes regulatory reform by executive order especially important.<\/p>\n

“There is a fair amount that the governor can do, and we’re happy to see that he is intending to use that rule-making and regulatory authority in ways that past administrations have not,” says Staley.<\/p>\n

A recent study by the Education Law Center<\/a>\u00a0documented inequities between charter and traditional public schools in Philadelphia, problems Staley says have arisen in districts across the state.<\/p>\n

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