As school districts and special interest groups push the narrative that public cyber charter schools are a financial drain on school districts, the below information is intended to provide Pennsylvania taxpayers with fact-based information about public cyber charter schools, including how they operate, how they are funded, and why an increasing number of families are choosing them for their child’s education.

School district leaders, special interest groups, and many elected officials are focused on eliminating public cyber charter schools and forcing students and families to attend school district-run schools.

Public cyber charter schools serve as a lifeline for tens of thousands of students across Pennsylvania who want nothing more than to receive a high-quality education. Public cyber charter schools have a place in Pennsylvania’s public education system and families must retain the right to send their children to the school that best serves them and meets their needs.

• False. As of the 2021-22 school year, public cyber charter schools accounted for only 2.7 percent ($1 billion) of the more than $39 billion spent on public education in Pennsylvania.
• The largest expense for all public schools is pension costs and school districts are using cyber charter schools as a scapegoat. As of the 2021-22 school year, public schools combined spent nearly $4.7 billion on pension costs – 12 percent of total education spending and nearly five times more than the cost of public cyber charter schools.
• Furthermore, as of the 2021-22 school year, all school districts combined have amassed nearly $6 billion in reserve funds – nearly six times more than the cost of public cyber charter schools and 17 percent of all school district spending.
• Needless to say, public cyber charter schools are not a financial drain on school districts; however, public cyber charters are being used by school districts to hide the fact that they are unwilling to right-size their operations to relieve the burden on taxpayers.

• False: Due to Section 1725-A of the Public School Code and the PDE-363, school districts are permitted to deduct up to 22 categories of expenditures before calculating the district’s charter school tuition rates.
• As a result of the above-noted deductions, school district payments for students enrolled in CCA are, on average, 30 percent less than what a district spends per student.
• Furthermore, providing a public education in an online environment does not mean it costs less to operate a comprehensive public cyber charter school.
• While there are some similarities in costs between public cyber charter schools and school districts, public cyber charter schools have unique expenses that districts do not have, such as:
  • Computer purchases for students (required by law);
  • Internet reimbursement to families (required by law);
  • Shipping of all curriculum materials to each student (required by law);
  • Technical support services (required by law);
  • State testing for enrolled students across the state (required by law);
  • Learning management system, or the online school system;
  • Family services;
  • Enrollment services; and
  • Virtual and/or in-person services for students with disabilities regardless of where in Pennsylvania the student resides.

• False. Public cyber charter school tuition rates are determined by a formula found in Section 1725-A of Pennsylvania’s Charter School Law.
• Public cyber charter schools have no input in how much funding they receive per student.
• Public cyber charter school tuition rates are solely determined by how much a school district spends per student. Each school district is required to use the PDE-363 to calculate the tuition rates they pay to public cyber charter schools for both non-special education and special education students.
• School district payments for students enrolled in CCA are, on average, 30 percent less than what a district spends per student.

• False. Based on the way the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) calculates the Future Ready PA Index, it makes it appear that CCA has low scores on the PSSAs and Keystone Exams; however, we must dig deeper to see the facts.
• PDE expects more than 95% of a school’s eligible students to take the PSSAs or Keystone Exams.
• When the percentage of eligible students taking the PSSAs or Keystone Exams drops below 95%, PDE categorizes these students as scoring not proficient even though they didn’t complete the assessments.
• In any given year, CCA typically has 80% or more of its eligible students opt out of taking the state assessments. CCA encourages our families to participate in the PSSA. Ultimately, families have a right to opt-out and should not be questioned or criticized for following their personal beliefs.
• When looking at the students who have actually taken the PSSAs or Keystone Exams, CCA general meets or exceeds the statewide average.
• It’s important to note that PSSAs and Keystone Exams only provide a snapshot in time on how students are performing. They should never be used as the sole measure of how students perform. From in-class learning to projects to exams to family satisfaction, it is imperative to look at multiple measures of student achievement.

• True and false. Based on data calculated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, CCA does have a low four-year graduation rate; however, we must, again, dig deeper to see the facts.
• Pennsylvania calculates a four-, five-, and six-year graduation rate for all public schools, but only uses the four-year rate to assess schools.
• CCA’s four-year graduation rate is low for the following reasons:
  • Nearly two-thirds of ninth- through twelfth-grade students who enroll in CCA for the first time are already out of their four-year cohort when they begin classes with CCA.
    • In other words, many students fell behind in the previous school district before joining CCA.
  • There are many ninth- through twelfth-grade students who planned to drop out of their previous school but were given a second chance by enrolling in CCA. These students went from being a potential high school dropout to obtaining their high school diploma. Congratulations to them!
• Of the students who have been with CCA prior to their freshmen year, more than 93% of them graduate within four years.
• CCA’s long-term student graduation rate exceeds the state average.
• CCA is always willing and able to help at-risk students cross the finish line regardless of the impact to our published graduation rates. It’s the right thing to do!

• False: As public schools, public cyber charter schools are required by state and federal laws to ensure all eligible students receive the required services under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
• School districts that claim that public cyber charter schools are not required to provide services to students with disabilities are either uninformed or are misleading the public.

• False. Regardless of your local school district offering its own cyber program or a cyber program through the local intermediate unit, families still have the option to enroll their child in CCA. You are not required to use your local school district’s cyber program.

• False. Pennsylvania’s Charter School Law specifically gives parents the right to enroll in a public cyber charter school, like CCA, regardless if a district offers its own cyber program. The Charter School Law protects a family’s right to choose the public school that best serves their child.

• False. As required by Pennsylvania’s Charter School Law, all public cyber charter schools, including CCA, are public schools that operate as non-profit organizations under the federal IRS code. Furthermore, CCA is the ONLY public cyber charter school in Pennsylvania that has created and operates its own proprietary learning management system (LMS) and courses.
• Public cyber charter schools receive most of their funding from the school district in which each enrolled student resides. This is the foundation of public school choice: the money follows the student.
• It’s important to note that school district payments for students enrolled in CCA are, on average, 30 percent less than what a district spends per student. This 30 percent is retained by the district for no benefit of the public cyber charter student. In fact, public cyber charter schools cost less to operate than district-run schools, which saves taxpayer dollars.

• False. Pennsylvania’s Charter School Law allows a public cyber charter school student to participate in a school district’s sports programs and extracurricular activities if such activities are not offered by the charter school.
• Section 1719-A(14) of Pennsylvania’s Public School Code states in part, “…no school district of residence shall prohibit a student of a charter school from participating in any extracurricular activity of that school district of residence: Provided, [t]hat the student is able to fulfill all of the requirements of participation in such activity and the charter school does not provide the same extracurricular activity.”

• False. CCA is not limited in the number of students who can enroll, nor can CCA turn away students. As a public school, CCA must enroll any eligible Pennsylvania school-age child who applies for enrollment.

• False. Since the inception of public cyber charter schools, school districts have consistently resisted the option for families to enroll in a public cyber charter school. Since a portion of your local, state, and federal tax dollars follow your child to a public cyber charter school, school districts will stop at nothing to try to reclaim that money. CCA is not aware of any other school district’s cyber program being fully ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible. Most district-run cyber programs are asynchronous, with little or no teacher involvement.
• As a parent and a taxpayer, Pennsylvania law gives you the right to choose the public school that best serves your child and your family.
• School districts don’t have the experience or understanding of how to operate a comprehensive public cyber charter school. Curriculum in a box; lack of programs and support for students with disabilities; and the inability to provide mentors to new families, learning coaches, and curricular and non-curricular support programs and services do not in any way compare to what is offered by CCA.

• False. School districts are using this approach as a scare tactic to prevent families from enrolling their child(ren) in a public cyber charter school.
• Families who enroll their child(ren) in a public cyber charter school retain the right to withdraw them from the public cyber charter school at any time and re-enroll them in the local school district.
• As required by Pennsylvania’s Public School Code and education regulations, school districts, as public schools, must enroll a student within five (5) business days of the family providing all of the required documentation.

• False. All (100 percent) of CCA’s teachers hold a Pennsylvania teacher certification.
• Although the state’s Charter School Law allows charter schools to have up to 25 percent of their teaching staff as non-certified teachers, it is CCA’s philosophy to employ teachers who hold a Pennsylvania teacher certification.

• False. By law, school districts are responsible for the education of every child who lives within the district.
• While you are awaiting enrollment in CCA, your child is permitted to attend your local school district until his/her enrollment in CCA is completed and finalized.
• When your child’s enrollment is finalized, CCA will notify your local school district that your child is now officially enrolled with CCA.
  • At this point, your child is no longer enrolled in your local school district and is now a student of CCA.
    • Note: School districts are using this tactic to force families to remain enrolled in the school district instead of enrolling at CCA. A family can decide at any point during the school year to withdraw their child from their local school district and enroll in a public cyber charter school. Likewise, a family can decide at any point during the school year to withdraw their child from a public cyber charter school and re-enroll him/her in their local school district; the school district must re-enroll the child.

• False. At any point during the school year, a family can withdraw their child from their local school district and enroll him/her in a public cyber charter school, like CCA.
• School districts cannot force families to remain enrolled in the district’s program.
• In 2002, Pennsylvania’s public cyber charter school law was enacted that granted families the right to send their child to a public cyber charter school at any point before, during, and after the school year.
• This, again, is another tactic school districts are using to force families to remain in the district’s program instead of enrolling in a public cyber charter school.

Fortunately, with more than 20 years of experience in providing an online education; having well-prepared teachers; developing an in-house, proprietary learning management system; and having fully accessible course content for ALL students, CCA is well-suited and well-prepared to provide high-quality educational programs and services and extracurricular activities to students and families without disruption.

• Why are school districts providing false information to families about enrolling in and attending a public cyber charter school?
  • The plain and simple answer: MONEY.
  • For every child who enrolls in a public cyber charter school, the child’s school district is required to pay to the public cyber charter school a portion of what the district spends per child. This is why there is no cost to families to send their children to a public cyber charter school.
  • School districts believe that the money they receive from federal, state, and local taxes belongs to them instead of the taxpayers.
  • As taxpayers, Pennsylvania families have the right to have their tax dollars follow their child to the public school that will best serve them and meets their needs.