Pennsylvania Auditor General Timothy DeFoor’s office released the findings of a three-year audit of the state’s cyber charter schools. The audit shows five of Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools amassed excessive reserves following rapid enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Online charter schools receive taxpayer funding from the school districts where their students live. The audit highlighted “uncommon” spending practices, such as purchasing gift cards, paying bonuses to teachers and the acquisition of 21 physical properties by Commonwealth Charter Academy. DeFoor said reserves are meant to assure there is no interruption in a child’s education — and not meant to sit in a bank account of a cyber charter school growing year after year. “These are your tax dollars,” DeFoor said. The audit reflects concerns raised by public school advocacy groups about cyber charter tuition and spending in recent years and makes recommendations to the governor’s office, the General Assembly and the Department of Education to review and reform the cyber charter school tuition formula. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposal for the next budget calls for a statewide base cyber charter annual tuition rate of $8,000 per student, which would save school districts an estimated $378 million a year. Read more from the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Source: Pennsylvania Capital-Star; 2/21/2025