How PA Charter Schools Stack Up (Spoiler Alert: Not Well)

 In  January, the PA Charter Performance Center of Children First released a new report entitled "The PA Disconnect in Cyber Charter Oversight and Funding." The report packs lots of illuminating details into a slim package, showing not just the facts and figures on Pennsylvania's charter schools, but putting them in the context of what the other cyber schooling states are doing these days.

Regular observers of Pennsylvania's wide-open cyber charter schools will not be surprised by anything here, but it's a clear, calm and balanced picture of the commonwealth's dysfunctional cyber sector. It's important to look at because, as the report notes, Pennsylvania last year led the nation in students enrolled in cyber charters. Throwing that in on top of our already-messed-up school funding system, and you get all sorts of issues. Especially since Pennsylvania's cyber charter laws were drafted in 2002 and have never been revisited or revised.

Here are some highlights from the report.

Charter fans have been talking about the great charter growth during the pandemic. In Pennsylvania, of the great jump to charters, 99.7% of that was students jumping to cyber charters. That growth far outpaced growth in any other state. 

Most states fund cyber schools at the state level, unlike Pennsylvania, where the cybers are funded at the local level. That means that local school districts absorb the cost directly, giving them a choice between either raising property taxes or cutting programs. 

Cyber tuition is based on the local sending district's per pupil costs. In PA, the state puts a small (36%-ish) amount toward school funding, meaning that local districts pick up the rest of the tab locally, to whatever extent they are able. PA's wildly unequal spending means that this is a highly variable figure--per student tuition can range from $9K to $23K for regular students and $18K to $57K for special education students. This means that taxpayers in different districts pay vastly different tuition fees for local students who go cyber; it also means that districts who provide more of their school funding locally will take a bigger local tax hit from cybers. Also, as cyber payments are figured into district funding formulas in subsequent years, the cyber tuition costs automatically go up.

PA used to have a formula for reimbursing districts for a portion of cyber costs. That rule was phased out in 2012 (part of Gov. Tom Corbett's slashing of education funding, which helped earn him his nickname "Old One Term"). Cybers get the same payment as bricks and mortar charter schools, even though they are way less expensive to operate. 

Cybers in PA took in about $980 million last year. The report points out that this is more than three times the amount by which Harrisburg increased basic ed funding this year.

There are fully virtual charters operating in 27 states (with West Virginia coming on board shortly). Not one of them does cyber funding as Pennsylvania does. 

Twenty-one states fund cybers directly. Three other fund via school districts; all three (Illinois, Oregon and Wisconsin) require cybers to be authorized by local districts, unlike PA, which authorizes charters on the state level. In Wisconsin, cybers have to negotiate payment in their contract with the local district.

Many other cyber-states pay cybers less than they pay brick and mortar charters. Some have other creative arrangements. A couple fund cybers based on performance. One performance based method is to pay cybers based on course completion. Texas requires full-time students to complete four full years (eight semester courses) to get the cyber paid. New Hampshire uses a mastery approach; their single state chartered virtual school was created in 2007, and it pays based on the number of mastery milestones that are hit by students. 

A performance-based system would be bad news for PA cyber schools; none of the fourteen schools have ever hit the state proficiency requirements, and some are spectacularly bad. Looking just at 2018-2019, we find that none of the schools beat the state average of 62.1% proficient for English or 45.2% for Math. A couple were almost in the neighborhood, but some--well. Agora Cyber was 34% English, 10.6% Math. Insight PA Cyber was 28.5% English, 7.6% Math. And Commonwealth Charter Academy, the 800 pound gorilla of PA cybers, the business that spent $19 million for advertising over just two years-- their scores show 5% English, and 13.5% Math. 

The report notes that state level cyber charters are created by state agencies are created by state legislation or a state-level agency, and therefor accountable to them. Pennsylvania's charter are okayed by the state, then created by businesses and accountable to the business owners. But accountability remains a huge problem for Pennsylvania taxpayers when it comes to charters.

As the report notes, PA is not the only state to face accountability issues. But other states have adapted. In Ohio, the ECOT scandal, in which the major cyber school in the state was found to have lied about enrollment to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, the legislature has tightened up rules. Indiana also had a major scandal (which they found because they require annual audits), and the legislature passed some reforms to tighten the rules. California's huge A3 scandal has led to a moratorium on new cybers, now in place until 2025.

However, in PA, the ScrantonTimes Tribune last year ran a story revealing that six of the 14 cybers have never been reviewed by state auditors, and some only audited once, long ago--Commonwealth Charter Academy's most recent audit was conducted in 2012. As yet the legislature has done nothing other than to oppose Governor Wolf's plan including a required annual audit for cyber schools. 

The report includes several recommendations, some of which are pretty basic common sense. Don't pay for cyber charter schools if the local district already offers virtual schooling. Create a state-level cyber as a true public good. Audit cyber schools annually. Set a tuition rate in line with actual costs of providing virtual schooling, and make it uniform across the state. Vet newly proposed charters based on quality and need.

In short, treat virtual schooling as a part of an important public education system, and not as an opportunity for some business folks to hoover up taxpayer dollars. Several superintendents ago, my boss, as he was leaving the job, offered me some advice. "Go start a cyber school," he said. "It's going to be as good as printing money." He was not wrong then. It would be nice if Pennsylvania adopted enough rules so that he would be wrong now. 

ICYMI: Lost Hour Edition (3/13)

Hard to express how little I look forward to getting the Board of Directors up at what will feel to them like an hour early. That's going to be a real party. And you've got one hour less to get through the reading for this week, including plenty about Tennessee's efforts to out-Florida Florida.

Texas students push back against book bans

The Texas Tribune covers the growth of student groups behind banned book clubs and book distribution plans. They have some things to say, including some reminders that for some students, these bans are very personal. "What about my story? Am I seen as a bad influence? Am I seen as something that should be shamed?"

Memphis students oppose bills banning "obscene" and LGBTQ books

Corinne Kennedy takes the radical step of talking to actual students, and again, they have much to say. "We do not occupy a world free from pain and tragedy. So why would our libraries be free from these?"

Billionaires, millionaires, corporate interests fuel battle over Tennessee schools

Newschannel 5 in Nashville did a pretty awesome job of laying out who's really pushing the latest Tennessee assaults on public education. 

Tennessee is about to take school privatization to an extreme

Andy Spears at The Progressive takes a thorough look at the various privatization initiatives going on in Tennessee these days. Not encouraging.

A look at the Hillsdale history curriculum and how it rewrites part of US past

Phil Williams at News Channel 5 in Nashville did some looking into the history curriculum pushed by Hillsdale, the private Christian college that Tennessee's governor is hiring to launch charter schools in the state.

PA's school funding trial comes to a close

The big funding trial in PA is wrapping up WHYY has a good summary of what has happened.

Assistant principal fired after reading children's book to class

You probably haven't missed this story, but just in case, here's the AP who was fired for reading I need a new butt

Despite stress, most teachers stay put

Matt Barnum again crunches some real numbers about the teacher exodus that may or may not be happening. 

Debunking the myth that teachers stop improving after five years

Hechinger reports on one more piece of research that proves what every actual teacher already knew. But it's nice to have the confirmation.

Panicked white people tried to ban books in the '80s, too

Fred Pincus at Talking Points Memo reminds us of one of the previous times we've been here. Back then it was Jerry Falwell and the Reganites.

Remember Ebonics?

Shane Phipps takes us back even further, to the panic over ebonics. Far right moral panic yet again. 

The Rudder Association: A deep dive into the conservative group with plans to "put the Aggie back in Aggieland."

This is an impressive piece of journalism from the Battalion, the student newspaper at Texas A & M, showing just how a bunch of alum are trying to remake the campus in their own image.

Jennifer Berkshire on Challenges to Public Education

John Warner interviews the co-author of Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door and co-host of Have You Heard. 

"A Glorified Babysitter"

Joshua Needelman takes a look at the effects of Any Warm Body substitute efforts, including his own.

MAGA Re-districting incites school litigation

Thomas Ultican with the tale of the San Dieguito School District and how oine MAGA member can disrupt an entire board.

Education Aptitude Test

Susan Ohanian offers a quiz to help you decide whether you are best suited for work in a classroom, the office of the Us Secretary of Education, or the Business Roundtable. Fun times. 

Science of Reading multiverse

Does it seem as if "Science of Reading" has multiple meanings. Paul Thomas explains the issues.

Congress just grew child poverty by 3,7 million children

Jan Resseger looks at one of the major effects of Congressional failure to pass Build Back Better

Overtesting Season Is Upon Us

Mercedes Schneider blogs about that magical time of year, and how exactly it affects classrooms.

Endurance is found

Not education at all (unless, like me, you had a copy of books about this expedition in your classroom), but pretty exciting if you have an interest in Sir Ernest Shackleton's expedition. One of the most amazing survival stories ever, with stunning photos, and now they've found the ship, almost two miles down in the Weddell Sea

And over at Forbes.com, I wrote about the Government Accounting Office's look at virtual charters--just in case you want one more data point about these beasts.

FL: Gov Appoints MAGA Q Fan To State Board of Education

It is just always something in Florida.

Gov. Ron DeSantis just appointed Esther Byrd to fill a seat on the state board of education. Byrd has a bit of a track record, as reported by Florida Politics.

Byrd's husband is Rep. Cord Byrd, who has, among other things, had an explosion of temper against Black protestors. Esther Byrd made an attempt to get onto the Neptune Beach city council, but was defeated by the incumbent 1,041 to 869. She's a former marine. And she's MAGA, offering some spirited defense of Trump, the January 6 Insurrection, and well--here's a sample of some Facebook posts:

ANTIFA and BLM can burn and loot buildings and violently attack police and citizens. But when Trump supporters peacefully protest, suddenly ‘Law and Order’ is all they can talk about! I can’t even listen to these idiots bellyaching about solving our differences without violence.

In the coming civil wars (We the People vs the Radical Left and We the People cleaning up the Republican Party), team rosters are being filled. Every elected official in DC will pick one. There are only 2 teams… With Us [or] Against Us. We the People will NOT forget!

Why do you think Facebook is throwing people in FB Jail who share information about Proud Boys? (Side note: I must really have great friends cause a whole bunch have been locked up! ) I think it’s because they’ve seen a drastic spike in searches and they are worried that people are educating themselves rather than blindly believing what MSM narrative. Anyone have a better theory?

The couple was photographed on a boat flying a QAnon flag, after which Esther Byrd posted some material supportive of QAnon (no longer available on Facebook). Both Byrd's failed to respond to calls to separate themselves from QAnon. Rep Byrd brushed off criticism of his wife: "People use hyperbole all the time."

She will join an investment banker, Rick Scott's old lawyer, a Walmart PR flack, a VP for telecom giant Charter Communications, a serial entrepreneur and pro-gun Parkland parent, and the AT&T Pres who also serves on the board for the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the James Madison Institute. So she should be right at home in the sense that it's a right-leaning group of people with no actual experience or knowledge of education. Good luck, Florida.

You Too Can Be A Wealthy Education Consultant

I know this because I have been subjected to repeated Facebook advertising from Erica Jordan-Thomas and her virtual seminar Six-Figure Educator Live: Build Your Education Consulting Business Blueprint. So I just had to look.

She leads with her story:

In 2008, I sold everything I owned and moved to Charlotte, NC to become a teacher making $33k/year.

In 2012, I became an assistant principal making $62k/year. My salary had increased but I was still drowning in debt. While I was slaying at work, I was ignoring calls from bill collectors and living paycheck to paycheck.

By 2015, I was slaying as a principal and hit my ultimate financial low. I had less than $50 in my bank account and had more than a week until I got paid...so I got a loan. After picking up the loan check, I was on my way to the bank and ran out of MFin gas. So here I was on the side of the road, with a check I didn’t even have enough gas to deposit.

And let me tell you, it had nothing to do with “poor money habits”. I created a budget and followed it religiously. But even with the strictest of budgets, I was only able to save a couple of hundred bucks a month. The progress to paying off my debt was slllooooowwwww.

That’s the point where it hit me: all the budgeting, all the “working my way up” in the school system, all of the love and care I was pouring into my students was not going to get me to a place where I could feel comfort and safety in my financial situation. I started my education consulting business in 2017. Within 8 months, I paid off all my credit card debt and established 3 months of savings.

From there she moves to the pitch, which boils down to "You deserve more," which, like all good pitches, carries some weight because it's somewhat true. You won't make six figures teaching, she says, and you won't get financially fit by skipping Starbucks. This isn't the Peace Corps, she says-- teaching isn't charity work. You shouldn't be heating up Ramen noodles for lunch. "You didn't become an educator to live paycheck to paycheck." And "if anybody deserves wealth, it's you. And "if you have the power to transform the life of a student, you have the power to transform your own." This is a powerful pitch.

Dr. EJT wants you to know she has a decade of experience in education. Also, she's the founder and CEO of EJT Consulting, as well as Get Launched Consulting, a Doctoral Candidate in Education Leadership at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has helped 200 clients grow their education consulting business.

There are a few other items on her cv. She got a Masters of Education in Instructional School Leadership from Relay Graduate School of Education, a "graduate school" created by three not-really teachers. She was a Doctoral Resident and Harvard Education Fellow at the Aspen Institute. Her undergrad degree in 2008 was from Ohio State; she earned a BS in Textiles and Clothing (and, if you recall, 2008 was not a great year for that kind of work). So you know what comes next-- when she headed off to Charlotte-Mecklenberg Schools in 2008, it was as a Teach for America newbie. After one year in the classroom, she spent a year as a TFA program director, then went into the New Leaders program for growing principals with a particular emphasis on diversity. As a principal, she got attention for implementing a version of the "have great teachers teach more kids." Use the data and we can find the Beyonce educators and give them a bigger venue. She tells the story of how she took one teacher and put him in charge of 950 "scholars" by having him design the lessons, coach the classroom teachers, and sit with "his teachers" to analyze data. She has a TEDxCharlotte talk where she talks about her career as a high school math teacher; she does not mention that it was just one year long.

Dr. EJT's alma mater is proud of her. She's gotten lots of positive attention before even turning thirty. But she is also a fine example of another person who branded herself as an education expert with no real experience in the field, pushing the reformy ideas favored by other people with no real experience in the field, even as she moves on swiftly to her next gig, and whose pitch is now "if it weren't for the tools, strategies, and resources I reveal inside Six-Figure Educator Live...I'd still be in debt...and living paycheck to paycheck as a principal." She seems positive, strong, and smart as hell--but in her larger career trajectory, the classroom is just a blip and the school building a slightly larger blip. Education could do with not so many shooting star passing-through "experts" these days.

The seminar is in two weeks, so if this seems like you're dream, by all means, sign up--it's only $49 non-refundable dollars. Or if you'd like to invite me to come talk to your group, I'm available for far less than six figures. 

Teach For America's Decline In Applicants (Good)

At Chalkbeat, Kalyn Belsha reports that Teach for America is hitting a fifteen-year low in applications. For my money, the number of applications to the teacher temp program can't get too low.

TFA launched in 1990, and became a darling of reformsters, and they have morphed through a variety of missions in the years since, changing from "the best and the brightest will come save urban children, kind of like the Peace Corps" to "we want to bring diversity to the teacher workforce," always with a side helping of things like "if you want to staff your charter school cheaply, we can help." And one other mission that we'll get to.

TFA recruitment peaked at 6,000 in 2013, and they've been declining ever since. Here's a piece looking at their recruiting troubles from all the way back in 2015. That's unsurprising--the entire teaching professional pipeline has been drying up. It would be a minor miracle if TFA weren't also feeling the effects.

TFA officials also blame the pandemic (though their decline pre-dates that)

“People are feeling like with what they’re seeing in teaching, they’re not sure they can do it,” Tracy St. Dic, TFA’s senior vice president of recruitment, said of the organization’s teacher prospects. “They care about social impact, they care about social issues,” she said, “but they also really want to have the security, and the safety, and the stability.”

TFA has too many wealthy friends in high places to ever die. Which is unfortunate. I'll add the usual disclaimer that TFA has produced some people who went on to become high quality career teachers. But those folks could have come out of a full-blown teacher program. 

TFA has long been mocked for putting their people in classrooms with little training or support, but the damage done by unqualified rookies in the classroom has been dwarfed by the damage done by their products after they leave the classroom. TFA has unleashed a small army of "former teachers" and "education experts" who spent two whole years in the classroom (knowing full well that they weren't going to stay, and therefor had no real reason to try to learn and develop professional understanding) but now feel qualified to tell actual teachers what to do. It has become predictably cliche--scratch almost every clueless edupreneur and amateur hour policy leader who claims to have started out as a teacher, and you find a TFA product. 

Worse, for the past few years they've been leaning into that part of their mission, that "spend a couple of years in a classroom as a way to launch your career as a policy leader and education thought leader who can spread the gospel of reformsterism." This has turned out to be the most damaging legacy of TFA, and the fewer people they recruit to carry it on, the better of the world of US education will be. 

FL: "Don't Say Gay" Really Is That Bad

Well, now the legislature in Florida (State motto: "There Is No Bottom") has passed HB 1557, the Don't Say Gay bill. There have been many attempts to defend the bill as being not so bad as its detractors say, but these attempts are at worst disingenuous and at best reveal a lack of understanding of how classrooms work. Let me explain why you can safely ignore the people saying critics of the bill have overblown the threat level of the bill.

First, there is the Outing Students language. Under 1001.42, section 8, subsection c1 and c2, we get the language saying in broad terms that any sort of change in the student's mental, emotional or physical health, parents must be notified. This is very broad, but in the context of the bill it seems most clearly aimed at students who come out as any sort of LGBTQ human. 

Language underlines that school procedures must "reinforce the fundamental right of parents to make decisions regarding the upbringing and control of their children" and that school personnel should encourage the student to discuss the "issue" with their parents--maybe even facilitate a discussion. This is an echo of a proposed amendment that was going to mandate that the school out students to their families. The bill now retains language that the school can choose to hold back the information if a "reasonable person" would determine that such an outing would put the child at risk of "abuse, abandonment or neglect." 

There's still more than enough left of this part to convince an LGBTQ student that they are not safe coming out to a trusted or asking for help at school; under this section, parents are entitled to see any and all records about their child, meaning that any counseling session that leaves a paper trail would be a risk for students not yet ready to come out to their family. 

Second is the meat of the restriction:

Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.

This is the part that Governor DeSantis points at to say, "Look, the word gay isn't actually there" and also "we're just restricting lesson materials for K-3." But the "or age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate" would seem to open up a larger, vaguer restriction for all students. And the "it doesn't use the word gay" defense is just dumb, because of course it is--just in fancier language. (Surely the guy who coined the "Stop WOKE Act" understands the power of boiling a legislative idea down to a short, pithy phrase.)

The guy who introduced the bill, Rep. Joe Harding, is among the many saying, "Look, you can still talk about this stuff--you just can't have lessons or curriculum about it." This is an argument made by someone who is either shoveling fertilizer or who just doesn't understand how a classroom works. If my lesson is about families, and we're all going to draw pictures of our family at home, and I know that Pat has two Mommies--have I designed a lesson that is "about" LGBTQ content? If I design any lesson that is likely to prompt a bunch of personal sharing (which, for primary grade students, is all lessons, all the time), have I violated this law? If I have a picture of my same-gender, legally-married spouse on my desk, am I violating the law (and heaven help me if my same-gender romantic partner decides it would be romantic to propose to me at school, as hetero couples are known to do)

Supporters of the bill can say, "Well, no, not really" or "I'd have to see your lesson plans," and I can believe that some of these panicked folks really think they're only stemming a tide of teachers whose lesson plans say, "Tuesday: Convince first grade class that they might all be gay." There are clearly some folks hanging on to the old, odious notion that all LGBTQ folks are pedophiles, and that LGBTQ people are only That Way because some other LGBTQ person talked them into it, and if nobody ever brought up the idea of gayness, nobody would ever be gay, in which case they may imagine that this bill is really holding back something real, and not addressing imaginary panics.

But here's the thing-- it doesn't matter what any of these people inside the legislature believes about what the bill does or doesn't restrict because--

Third, the bill farms out enforcement to the public. Any parent who thinks that a portion of this law has been violated and is unsatisfied with the district response can drag the district before a special magistrate, and then sue the district. Neither Joe Harding nor Ron DeSantis nor any other politicians in Tallahassee get to decide what the law actually prohibits--parents get to do that.

But, you say, parents who sue over something stupid will just lose and nonsense suits under the law will just burn themselves out. But even in nonsense suits, the school district will have to spend time and money to defend themselves; even a stupid lawsuit will be damaging to the district. 

As with the proliferating gag laws around the country, the effect here is to intimidate and chill, to get frightened administrators, boards, and teachers to do the dirty work and shut down every possible lesson plan, curricular item and classroom activity that might set off some litigious parents. Which means that regardless of how mild guys like Harding and DeSantis claim the bill is, the end effect will be that it will be as severe as the most severe parent in the local district decides it is. 

So do not be fooled by the defenders of this bill who claim that everyone is overreacting and Florida is just trying to block Choose Your Gender Day from Kindergarten. This is a bad bill, a bill designed to chill and intimidate and drive LGBTQ students and teachers back into the closet. 

One other thing-- you need to know that as bad as this bill is, there are worse ones out there, with more popping up, and if you are outraged at what Florida is up to, you may need to save some of that outrage for another state closer to home, because this wave has not even crested yet.

WA: Summit Charters Caught Using Uncertified Teachers

Washington state actually audits its charter schools; consequently, it discovered that three charter schools run by Summit Schools, employed a total of twenty-four uncertified teachers.

In Washington, teachers must have a valid license, or their school must pursue waivers and/or emergency certification. Summit didn't do any of that. Senator Lisa Wellman, in a press release, underlined that students enrolled in 50 courses were taught by teachers without credentials or oversight by Summit. Wellman underlines that Summit's board of directors is based in California, though their website lists a Washington board as well (though that board may just be appointed by the California board). The California board chairman is Robert J. Oster, a venture capitalist and board member at the right-tilted Hoover Institute at Stanford. Washington's chairman is Evan Smith, who boasts a background in business and education and--well, no. He's a VP at Starbucks, used to work at McKinsey, did some political press secretary work, and taught for a grand total of one year in New Orleans. If that smells like another Teach for America product, well, yes. 

Summit is very much from the corporate sector of charterdom. Started in 2003 by Diane Tavener, it was adopted and infused with cash and technology by Mark Zuckerberg, it has since spun into both a charter business and a digital school in a box business. 

But Washington state should not have been surprised to find Summit using uncertified teachers. The website says nice things like "Teachers are at the heart of every Summit classroom serving as content experts, mentors, and leaders," but notice that list of roles, because Summit's model has always been about using "mentors" in the classroom while students hunker down in front of a computer screen. 

The whole Summit business approach (and Summit is definitely a business, not some philanthropic school thingy) is to McDonaldsize the personnel role, thereby cutting out all the big human resource expense. At one point, they even had their own Facilitator Farm to grow some inexpensive meat widgets to stand in a classroom while students and computers did the work.

Given Summit's history and education-flavored business model, I would be shocked if their schools were staffed by 100% certified teachers. Washington State got exactly what they should have expected to get. Maybe they weren't paying attention, or maybe the people who should have been paying attention just didn't care. Also, the Summit boards meet once a quarter, rather than once a month as required by Washington law.

At any rate, it now appears that Summit may owe the state almost $4 million for an unprecedented, but entirely predictable, breach and disregard of the state's rules. The audit reports that the board did not take steps to "address concerns over uncertified teachers," though it's not clear if anyone expressed those concerns to the board. The board certainly wouldn't have had those concerns on their own, because these schools may have been violating state law, but they were following the company business model. We'll see what happens next.