Wolf unveils charter school reforms

By CHRISTINE HAINES
chaines@yourmvi.com
Gov. Tom Wolf unveiled his three-part plan to address issues with the state’s 22-year-old charter school law Wednesday at the Twin Rivers Elementary School in McKeesport.
“Families need all kinds of options. My wife was the founder of a charter school in York County,” Wolf said, noting that he is not against charter schools, just against the lack of financial and academic accountability under the current law.
“I’m seeking comprehensive charter school reform through executive action, regulation and legislation,” Wolf said.
Wolf announced a fee for services plan for charter schools.
“It will help the Department of Education to recoup money it is expending for charter schools,” Wolf said.
For example, when a dispute arises between the district and charter school over tuition payments, charter schools can request that PDE “redirect” payment from the school district’s state funding to the charter schools. The department processed more than 13,500 requests of this type in 2018, a 60 % increase in seven years.
Starting Sept. 15, the requesting school will be assessed $15 per redirection payment to recoup PDEs cost of providing this service.
Additionally, new cyber charter applicants will be charged a fee that reflects the cost to review the application. In the past this cost has been about $86,000 per applicant. This fee will be applied to new cyber charter school applications on or after Jan. 1, 2020.
“I think it’s unfair to taxpayers to ignore financial accountability,” Wolf said.
State Sen. James Brewster, D-McKeesport, a former mayor of the city, introduced legislation for charter school reform.

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