Why the Delay in Cyber Charter School Funding Reform?

Map of school districts that have passed resolutions.

Reform of PA cyber charter school funding has been a top legislative priority of the PA School Board Association for years. Pennsylvania is one of just 4 states that require local school districts to fund cyber charter schools, and the only one that bases that funding on each districts’ per-student cost. Those costs have become an increasingly heavy burden for PA public school districts. As of June 1, 2025, 483 of PA school boards, more than 96%, had passed resolutions asking the PA General Assembly to pass legislation to address this.

Pennsylvania enacted the Charter School Law in 1997 and expanded the law in 2002 to include cyber charter schools without considering the obvious differences in funding a brick and mortar vs virtual school. For a public school, those costs include classroom and building maintenance, utilities, food service, and transportation. None of those costs apply to cyber charter schools.

As early as 2007, PA Auditor General Jack Wagner was decrying lack of oversight and misuse of funds in PA cyber charters. Announcing a completed 2008-2011 audit of PA cyber charters, Wagner said 

While I have long supported alternative forms of education, as the state's independent fiscal watchdog, I cannot look the other way and ignore a broken system in which charter and cyber charter schools are being funded at significantly higher levels than their actual cost of educating students.

During his 2012-2019 tenure as Auditor General, Eugene DePasqualle oversaw multiple audits of PA cyber charters and repeatedly blasted what he called in 2016 press conference “the worst charter school law in the United States.” According to news reports “He blamed recent failed efforts in Harrisburg to reform the charter law on special interest lobbying. . . citing the popularity of reforms in preliminary votes.”

This year (February 2025), PA’s current Auditor General, Timothy DeFoor, again highlighted excessive reserves and an undue burden on local districts. In a news release reporting audits of five cyber charters, he said

I am now the third auditor general to look at this issue and the third to come to the same conclusion: the cyber charter funding formula needs to change to reflect what is actually being spent to educate students and set reasonable limits to the amount of money these schools can keep in reserve.

Despite recommendations from Auditor Generals of both parties, and strong support from school boards in every part of Pennsylvania, bills to address this issue have never been given a final vote. Bills introduced by both Republicans and Democrats are rarely given consideration in the Education Committee of the chamber in which they were introduced, and the few that have emerged from one chamber have been ignored in the other.

One recent bill, the Charter School Reform Act (HB272), introduced in 2021, had 75 sponsors: 61 Democrats and 14 Republicans. The bill was referred to the Education committee March 2021 where 9 of 25 committee members were sponsors. The chair of the committee never scheduled the bill and it died there at the end of the session, 21 months later. 

While the 2024 budget bill made small changes in allocation for cyber special education, the charter school and cyber charter funding formula—a major cause of the financial burden for public school districts and property taxpayers—remained essentially unchanged. 

Efforts continue in the 2025-2026 session. House Bill 1500 moved through the House with party-line votes in the shortest time allowable by the PA Constitution. In just three days, the bill was voted out of the Education Committee and given the required three considerations on the House floor. HB1500 passed 104-98 on June 4 with all D and just 2 R votes. 

One obvious question: why the repeated delay in passing a reform supported by auditor generals from both parties and elected PA school boards from every part of Pennsylvania? An even more important question: what are the dynamics in Pennsylvania’s politics and legislative processes that hinder reforms adopted more quickly in a majority of other states?

Further Reading:

• Will Pennsylvania Finally Reform Its Cyber Charter School System?

• The PA Disconnect in Cyber Charter Oversight and Funding A Review of Cyber Charter Laws in 27 States

• Auditor General DeFoor Calls for Change in Funding Formula for Cyber Charter Schools

Auditor General reports referenced above are no longer available online