Ciresi introduces legislation to refocus Pennsylvania’s cyber charter school law on students and taxpayers
Rep. Joseph Ciresi May 2, 2025 | 10:47 AM
HARRISBURG, May 2 – A long-time champion for accountability in cyber charter schools, state Rep. Joe Ciresi this week introduced legislation that would modernize Pennsylvania’s charter school law to save taxpayers’ money, require more openness and transparency, and ensure taxpayer-funded tuition payments to cyber charter schools are focused on educating students.
“Auditor General Timothy DeFoor is the third auditor general who has called for reform of cyber charter schools, and it is long past time that the legislature made cyber charter schools as accountable as any entity receiving public funds," Ciresi said. “It’s unacceptable that the public must bear the costs of millions of taxpayer dollars being spent on handing out gift cards to students, growing fund balances, sponsoring professional sports teams, and funding advertising to promote schools that rank among the lowest in the state. My legislation modernizes our out-of-date and broken cyber charter school law, while setting new rules to address this type of spending that doesn’t help educate our students but continues to raise property taxes throughout the commonwealth."
In 2015, the General Assembly passed a law to create an education funding formula based on actual student enrollment and cost factors to address an outdated, flawed and inequitable system of funding school districts. However, the bill did not address cyber charter schools, which continue to receive the same funding as brick-and-mortar charter schools despite having materially lower costs, leading Ciresi to author H.B. 1372 to address this issue.
Ciresi’s legislation would set a single statewide tuition rate of $8,000 -- as proposed by Gov. Josh Shapiro in his budget address -- for non-special education students at cyber schools that is better aligned to the actual cost of cyber education. It also would apply the existing three-tier special education funding formula currently used for school districts, which sets funding based on the student’s special education needs, to cyber charter schools.
The bill also would:
- Set restrictions on publicly funded event sponsorships and other expenses not related to providing an education for students.
- Cap cyber charter school unassigned fund balances, to make sure the money cyber charter schools receive goes directly towards educating students.
- Expand conflict of interest provisions, ethics standards, and public reporting for cyber charter schools and their associated charter school foundations and educational management service providers, so that they follow the same rules as our school districts.
- Require cyber charter schools to demonstrate that they’re spending tuition they receive for special education on providing those services.
- Create clear and standard processes for applications to create, amend or renew a cyber charter school’s charter.
- Require comprehensive reviews, including academic performance and financial management and governance, prior to renewing a cyber charter school’s charter, holding them accountable for the results they’re delivering for our children and taxpayers.
“This legislation preserves school choice and puts students and their education at the center of every dollar taxpayers send to cyber charter schools,” Ciresi said. “By establishing limits on spending that is unrelated to educating students, aligning tuition closer to actual costs and needs, and requiring cyber charter schools and their operators to be fully transparent in their operations, H.B. 1372 will bring long-overdue principles of fiscal responsibility, good governance and a focus on students that our broken charter school law needs.”