Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility Democrats fight to make Cyber Charter Students safer, demand accountability from online schools

Democrats fight to make Cyber Charter Students safer, demand accountability from online schools

Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus    June 25, 2025 | 3:02 PM

HARRISBURG, June 25 – Continuing efforts to reform Pennsylvania’s cyber charter education, the Democratic House Education Committee will soon introduce legislation to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of Pennsylvania children enrolled in cyber charter schools.

House Education Committee Majority Chairman, state Rep. Peter Schweyer, said traditional in-person schools, whether in school districts, brick-and-mortar charter schools, parochial and religious schools and private schools have a support structure in place to identify abuse, neglect and mental health concerns, but this system does not exist for cyber charter education.

“It is our goal to close loopholes, too often exploited by the purveyors of cyber charter schools that allow some students to fall through the cracks,” Schweyer. “Cyber charter schools often fail to provide meaningful adult supervision that could prevent harm to at-risk students. The 65,000 cyber charter school students deserve to learn in a safe environment, and if the schools are unwilling to do this on their own accord, we’re going to step in.”

According to Schweyer, the Cyber Student Safety Act would include the following to close this safety gap:

  • Requiring?timely and appropriate communication with families, crisis teams, and relevant authorities as appropriate; 
  • Providing regular and mandatory training for all personnel conducting wellness checks. 
  • Holding cyber charter schools accountable for failure to follow escalation protocols or report student wellness concerns in a timely manner.

State Rep. Mary Isaacson, who spearheaded the Cyber Charter School Reform, Transparency and Accountability bill, which passed the House earlier this month, is also a co-prime sponsor for this legislation.

“It has become quite clear that our cyber charter schools are in an immediate need of accountability and responsibility for the children and families they are serving,” Isaacson said. “As the General Assembly continues working on updating and modernizing our cyber charter law, we must include cyber charter student safety and ensure no child falls through the cracks because their education happens to take place outside of a physical school building.”

The lawmakers said they have introduced a co-sponsorship memorandum, which has been supported by all 14 Democratic members of the House Education Committee and are currently gathering additional support for the bill.