PA SB 1085's Impact on Cyber Charter Schools

When I first read SB 1085, I was encouraged that the bill attempted to reform Cyber Charter Schools in a way that would reform all schools. Education reform is valuable and is needed in our nation as well as in Pennsylvania. In a recent BLOG post, Ali Carr-Chellman, a Penn State Professor and former critic of Cyber Charter Schools,  suggests that Cyber Charter Schools are not a bad thing,  "I'm very much in favor of  local and district-level innovations. This is really pushing them to do some innovation. That's not a bad outcome." She is, however, against the diverting of monies into corporate non-profits with unethical vendor arrangements. She calls this a "Gold Rush" for these schools. She also thinks that we are currently in a state of detente, allowing local cyber charter schools to develop.

I believe that SB 1085 is meant to correct problems, however, the legislators have added a 5% cut in funding to Cyber Charter Schools. This cut is meant to correct the pension double dip. HB 618 was meant to do this last year. It was not passed because many legislators want school choice, and realize that there is a price for innovation in school reform. This price is never less money at the development stage. Traditional schools who choose to use snow days this year to teach Online would never have attempted that 5 years ago. This year SB 1085 has been revised to include a 5% cut in Cyber Charter Schools to pay for the pension double dip. Here is some of the reasoning from Dr. James Hanak, CEO of Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School, about why HB 618 and the revised SB 1085 are a bad idea. 

1. All charter schools begin with only 70 cents on the dollar from the home sending school district.  Despite this, charter schools are held to higher standards than their traditional counterparts, and Cyber Charter schools are graded with more stringent requirements than their equal brick and mortar counterpart.
2. The bill (618) will hold cyber charter schools more “accountable.”  This argument was a diversion designed to draw attention away from the real purpose of the bill – to cut Cyber Charter funding.  Most of the so called “accountability” factors contained in the bill have already been put in place in law, and all Cyber Charter Schools are already carefully complying with these accountability requirements.
3. The only thing this bill does is further cripple Cyber Charter Schools by 5%.  It cuts cyber schools’ funding dramatically but only saves local school districts .02% of their budget (two tenths of one percent).  It saves the State nothing.

What will happen if Cyber Charter funding is cut by 5%?

1. Those schools that are growing (most of them) will...
1.   simply hold off raises for their teachers / staff.
2.   increase class sizes, or purchase less education software or the like. 
3.  create an environment encouraging staff to look for more stable job opportunities
2. Those schools that are not growing will...
1. make layoffs
2. create an environment encouraging staff to look for more stable job opportunities

Teachers are not entrepreneurs. They generally do not like risk. When Cyber Charter Schools are perceived as experimental, then many teachers will search for safer employment in the brick and mortar world. If fewer teachers choose to work for Cyber Charter Schools, then there will be less innovation. Is a.02% gain in revenue the reason HB 618 or the revised version of SB 1085 have traction? I do not think that this is driving the argument. The enemies of Cyber Charter Schools are. Innovation is needed in education. The enemies of Cyber Charter Schools include the teacher's union, and the school board association. Their gain is their windfall from SB 1085. This could easily result in the tax payer paying more money for less innovation in traditional schools.

Please join us in Harrisburg this year for the PA Families Cyber Day on the Hill on May 6th 2014. The permission slip and BLOG where you can make payment can be found here. 

Cyber School PALCS Teens for Jeans Drive.

How do you involve cyber school students from all over the state on a
service project from  #MLK to #GYSD Day? PALCS student government figured it out.

Asian Invasion Exchange with PALCS

Recently our school, PA Leadership Charter School hosted 10 students and two teachers from our partner school in Hebie Province, Shijiazhuang, China. The students and teachers were here for a jammed packed week filled with unrelenting snow, activities, and plenty of warmth from our host families. I have come to the conclusion that the hosting end of the exchange is all about the host families. These videos and post are dedicated to them. After the students left to go back to China, many of the host families thanked me for talking them into providing a home for them to stay in. I do a much better job with the exchange when I keep the needs of the host families in the forefront of my priorities. :)

On Monday one of my co-teachers, Jason McLead and I picked up the students from 30th street station in Philadelphia, We met the host families in the school parking lot, and they quickly dispersed to their new homes. On Tuesday we visited West Chester University. I think the highlight of this visit was giving the students the opportunity to help teach Mandarin in a University Class. On Wednesday we escorted the students to the historic sites of Philadelphia. They visited the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Betsy Ross's House and Elfreth's Alley. We did some shopping in China Town and had dinner at Tai Lake Restaurant. On Thursday we were snowed in by a storm that dropped 15 inches in our area. The students spent the day helping to shovel snow, baking chocolate cookies, and dumplings instead of shadowing students at our school and participating in a ping pong tournament. On Friday we visited the Amish area of nearby Lancaster. We started off that day in culture classes, making valentines and art projects, and then tasted home made jams and did shopping at the outlets. On the weekend the host families included our students in their families for a variety of American experiences. On Monday we visited NYC which was a highlight of the trip. We came back to my house which is close to the airport, and woke early in the morning to catch their flight. I want to thank the following colleagues who made this week easier for me. Dr. James Hanak, Dr. Joyce Good, Scott Van Vooren, Kim Edwards, Julie Kaplan, Lynn Parris, Noele Huie, and Angela Owarzani.

If you would like learn more about either end of this exchange you can check out our BLOG site here. If you would like to be a host family next year, then please consider taking this short survey.

Here is an overview video of our week together

One of my students, Micah Byler made this video of our NYC trip.

In this Christmas season would you consider that there is a government that transcends the governments of this world? In this BLOG I write about education. In the post today I am writing about the real meaning of Christmas. I hesitate to write this post because I am very guarded about sharing my beliefs with my students. I recognize that my opinions are important to them, and my goal is not to indoctrinate, but to educate. This BLOG is about education. The values that I teach my students are an extension or my personal faith. Things like honesty, showing up on time, showing up early, being prepared, doing things the best they can be done, and kindness are all values that I have learned in living out my faith.

My role as an educator is different than my role as an advocate. When we advocate for a political position, the need to be objective can make our message too obscure, and more importantly irrelevant. Home schooling, Cyber education, and learning On-line have been a major part of our lives for the past thirty years. My children were all Homes schooled and cyber schooled, and this coming year I mark the milestone of our eighth grandchild. My children have flourished in the real world of work which should be the ultimate goal of education. They have flourished because of the values we advocate in our home. This is why I am such a parent advocate when I write in this BLOG. As a parent advocate my faith is at the core of my message. So today I want to wish you a Merry Christmas in the light of this faith.

Sometimes I get discouraged when I advocate for cyber education. I see that our government can drift from the moorings of values based in simple faith. Perhaps God will rise up judges to bring justice and righteousness to execute God's reign no matter how men choose to govern themselves, whether it is a tyrannical monarchy or a democracy. As Gideon defeated at least 140,000 Midianites with 300 men, so will God raise up future judges to execute his providence regardless of how men govern. Israel wanted a king. God gave them Saul. But, that was not the end of the story. In this season of Christmas, he made provision to disperse "merry gentleman" who are resting in the gift of Christ's birth, which will save us from the power of Satan, when we go astray. I aspire to be one of those merry gentlemen. I still worry about our government. I pray that God will rise up another judge to execute justice when I perceive oppression. In ancient times that took the form of a man. In modern times I know that God may also work his providence through circumstance, happenstance and other nation states. This brings me to my knees to pray for our nation and our leaders. It is not my desire that they would fail. I desire my grandchildren to have quiet and peaceful lives that they can live in godliness and honesty. But, if the government does fail, as it always does, I will find rest in the government we celebrate at Christmas. Dictators, presidents and their armies will not supersede a reign that will never perish from the earth.

From Americans for Tax Reform

Pennsylvania Senate Bill Puts School Choice at Risk!
S.B. 1085 unfairly targets cyber schools

School choice is being threatened again and this time the target is over 40,000 Pennsylvanian children. The Pennsylvania State Senate has introduced a bill, S.B. 1085, that would cut 5% of the funding for public cyber charter schools and reassign it to traditional brick-and-morter public schools.

Cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania have revolutionized the education system in Pennsylvania. Taking money from schools where students attend and arbitrarily giving it to public schools where they do not makes little sense. As a result, many families are asking for the Pennsylvania State Senators to hold off on a vote for reallocating the funding until a study on how money is spent in public cyber schools is done.

PA Families for Public Cyber Schools has this to say:
“Haste makes waste: This study will help inform everyone involved in the debate, including parents. It would be irresponsible to take preliminary action before benefiting from the findings of the proposed study.”

The cyber schools amount to roughly 1% of the education budget for Pennsylvania. When a student decides to go to a cyber charter school, those students receive only 81% of the funding that they were once getting in a public school setting. Public schools are given funding preferences, despite parental choice and lack of evidence indicating money for cyber charter schools is mispent. It has been estimated that the 5% reduction would be equal to one- third of cyber teachers' salaries. The cut limits the accessibility of cyber charter schools for families across the state and puts currently enrolled students at risk.

The bill does have some positives. It fixes a “pension double dip” for cyber schools. The bill also institutes measures of accountability and oversight that make cyber schools more transparent fiscally. It also gives universities more leeway in authorizing new charter schools, weakening school districts authority to flatten their competition, creating more equality.

A rejected letter from Pennsylvania State Senator Seth Grove.

Flea circus

Limiting beliefs can truly hold you back from greatness. Many strategies break the problem down into smaller pieces. Then you can celebrate your small victories and build confidence.When you see yourself caught in a limiting belief just remember the flea circus. It would be silly to bang your head on a cellophane barrier. It also is wrong to hold onto limiting beliefs.

This post was originally posted on November 21st. At that time I thought it was from my State Senator Ted Erickson. I was mistaken. The letter came from State Senator Seth Grove's office. I have apologized to Senator Erickson because he had nothing to do with this response, however, the meaning of the post still is valid. Seth Grove or someone in his office should not be using intimidation techniques to respond to the citizens of their state.  The letter below was faxed to my school's public fax number. I still would be wiling to meet with Senator Grove to discuss the content of this post.

Sir,

Recently, I received a faxed response from you with a few grammar and spelling corrections. It appears that you were trying to reinforce a weakness in my writing ability to undermine the content of my letter.

You said nothing about the content of the letter, so I think I made you angry. This was not my intention. You are a senator, and I respect you but, would you have answered my students in the same way? When Senator Jay Costa responded to my letter he addressed the main idea of student to teacher ratios. He said that because our school’s money came from local districts with varied per capita reimbursements, then it would be extremely difficult to tie funding to ratios. Although I disagree with Mr. Costa, would it have been that hard to write to this point as well? Mr. Grove, my letter was an opinion, not an assignment in a class. I am a teacher and administrator of leadership electives in a cyber high school. I am the adviser for our active student government organization where our students learn civic leadership in practical ways. If you wrote back this kind of response to one of them, would your influence limit their belief system? Would they ever write a letter to their legislator again?

Sir, I admit that you are smarter and more influential than I, but the only way I can perceive this letter is as a personal attack. When you faxed the letter back to my school without a comment apart from your corrections about my mechanics, this attacked my reputation as an educator. Was this your intention? I would think this would have been better handled with a phone call or meeting. Would you like to meet?

Did the students fail or did we fail them?

Why do Cyber Schools have high turnover and lower achievement test scores? Cyber schools receive students who have chosen to leave the public education system because it has failed them. Cyber schools are a second choice school for many students who are bullied, have bad grades, or unacceptable behavior. In some cases cyber schools have been able to re-mediate students and send them back to traditional schools, kick them out because they are not the right fit to be independent learners, or keep the ones who embrace the flexibility and independence of learning online. We can continue to criticize online learning, or marvel at the 35,000 students who have adapted to this kind of learning. It’s easy to throw out vague statistics to prove a point. It would also be good to judge the improvement of cyber learners from year to year and school to school. The pioneering spirit of online learners will prevail because of the way technology levels the playing field for students in rural, urban, and even developing countries. Students who are from economically disadvantaged families now have the opportunity to catch up to the privileged.