Charter Schools in Pennsylvania

Law:   Passed in 1997

Rank:   13th strongest of the nation's 40 charter laws

CER Grade:   B

Schools:   91

Students:   33,656

UPCOMING EVENTS:

May 4-7, Valley Forge, PA: Bridging The Gap In Public Education, the Pennsylvania Coalition of Charter Schools Annual Conference. For more information contact Beth Williams, 717-237-5545.

POLITICS:

CYB-VERSION: Last week the Pennsylvania state department of education rejected five of five cyber charter school applications. Under new provisions, cyber school proposals can only be approved by the state. Resubmission to the department or appealing to the Charter School Appeals Board is still an option for those applications that were denied. As this is the first round of charter school applications to come before Pennsylvania's new leadership, these rejections are a likely indication of its mindset towards the charter school movement. CER Newswire January 28, 2003.
DEAD LINE: The Philadelphia School Reform Commission seems to once again be demonstrating an inability to cope with innovations like charter schools. Last fall the Commission said it would not review 26 charter school applications, despite the clear mandate of the reform commission to provide additional choices to parents. Then a month ago the applicants were told they would finally be considered, though most chose not to be, given how little time they would have had to prepare for September. Three groups received conditional approval to open. However, they are still facing deadlines -- and more hearings -- before they can open. All three schools -- Maritime Academy Charter School, Green Woods Charter School and First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy -- must again go before the Commission to make a final pitch for approval. These schools will learn on August 7th whether they will be allowed to open, less than one month before traditional schools open on September 5th. When coupled with new information from a study of Pennsylvania Charter Schools that found "typical charter schools out-gained its demographically similar comparison group in all subjects and grades levels," the fact that the SRC remains out of touch with what the ailing system needs becomes all the more clear. From CER Newswire July 23, 2002.
CYBER CHARTERS: Prior to 2001 only two cyber charters were operating in Pennsylvania. With the beginning of the 2001 school year, however, the Keystone state saw a boom in its cyber charter population, with five new schools either opening or scheduled to open. It was estimated they would serve approximately 4,500 students. Apparently it was too great a number to go unnoticed by the education establishment. The Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) and four school districts filed a suit challenging the requirement that districts release funds for their students who enroll in cyber charters. Judge Warren G. Morgan ruled against the PSBA, arguing that to grant the injunction would put the state's cyber charters and the students they serve at risk. The PSBA and the aggrieved districts vowed to continue their fight. For more details, see: "Beyond Brick and Mortar: Cyber Charters Revolutionizing Education", January 2002.
Report of the Charter Schools Strategic Options Project adopted by the Pennsylvania State Education Association. The real charter issue for school employee unions is who controls education. A confidential union report notes: "If we lose our grip on the labor supply to the education industry, we will bargain from a position of weakness." In PDF format.

DEVELOPMENTS:

CONTRACT: The new education company K12, an Internet-based elementary and secondary school providing online curriculum for families and schools, won approval for its first virtual charter school in Norristown, Pennsylvania. The company, whose chairman is former Education Secretary William J. Bennett, will receive a five-year charter to provide curriculum for and run an Internet-based Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School. For more information, visit http://www.k12.com.
STUDY GUIDE: A study by the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition and the Drexel University Foundation's Technical Assistance Center, "Facing Challenges, Forging Solutions" looks at what is hindering and what is helping charter school growth, from technical to political to community issues. CER Newswire, July 18, 2000

ACHIEVEMENT:

ON THE RISE: The 5 year-old World Communications Charter School was nearly shut down two years ago, due to its rock-bottom standardized test scores. However the latest round of state test scores — released at the end of October —revealed that the school has corrected its failure and, in fact, indicate that World Communications has become one of the best schools in the state. Eleventh graders improved by an average of 250 points in math on the Penn. System of School Assessment, placing the 11^th graders 150 points above the state average. CER December 2002 Monthly Letter
RISK MANAGEMENT: Community Academy of Philadelphia has offered programs that are aimed at helping at-risk teens. The school has grown to 600 students, kindergarten through 12^th grade and is building a new $12 million campus, financed by the state’s first tax-exempt charter-school bond deal. Community Academy has average daily attendance of 93 percent, compared with less than 75 percent at some city high schools. 30 percent of its graduates head to four-year colleges, 30 percent enroll at two-year colleges or technical schools, and the rest join the military or workforce. CER December 2002 Monthly Letter

RESOURCES:

Profile of Pennsylvania Charter School Law .

Links to Pennsylvania Charter School Websites .

SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS:

Charter Schools Project Duquesne University 712 Rockwell Hall, 600 Forbes Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15282	Contact: Chenzie Grignano Tel: 412-396-4492 Fax: 412-396-6175 Email: grignano@duq.edu
The Charter Schools Project is a planning and development effort of the Institute for Economic Transformation at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. This project provides information for the rising Pennsylvania charter school movement, with a focus on the development of charter schools within the Western Pennsylvania region.

Pennsylvania Charter School Resource Center 2 Penn Center, Suite 1100 Philadelphia, PA 19102	Contact: Melanie Burke-Reiser, Director Telephone: (215) 557-9919 Fax: (215) 563-6555 Email: csrctrt@aol.com

Community Academy of Philadelphia 2820 North 4th Street Philadelphia, PA 19133-3116	Contact: Joseph Proietta (215) 425-1213 x12 Fax: (215) 425-1223 Email: proietta@earthlink.net

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION:

Pennsylvania Department of Education Policy Office 333 Market Street 10th Floor Harrisburgh, PA 17126-0333	Contact: Dr. Tim Daniels , Policy Specialist Tel: 717-783-9781 Email: tdaniels@state.pa.us
Website: http://www.pde.psu.edu/charter.html