Rep. Mary Isaacson - COVID/Charter Crisis Read more

HARRISBURG, March 2 – The charter school crisis has only worsened through the COVID-19 pandemic and a public hearing hosted by state Rep. Mary Isaacson examined the statewide impact on public schools. "Our Pennsylvania Constitution requires that we provide for and maintain a thorough and efficient public education system," said Isaacson, D-Phila. "That constitutional mandate doesn't disappear when there's a global pandemic. COVID-19 has had a huge impact on school districts' budgets throughout our commonwealth, presenting new challenges to meet the constitutional mandate. Being able to have a discussion now with administrators on the front lines of dealing with the impact of COVID-19 and the charter school funding crisis was an important step in working toward solutions." The committee heard testimony from Uri Monson, CFO for the Philadelphia School District, and superintendents statewide including Dr. Shane Hotchkiss, Bermudian Springs School District and chair, Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators Legislative Committee; Ken Berlin, Wattsburg School District, Erie County; Richard Scaletta, General Mclane School District, Erie County; Dr. Brian Bliss, Solanco School District, Lancaster County; David Burkett, Fannett Metal School District, Franklin County; and Jim Estep, Mifflin County School District. “Testifiers were economically and geographically diverse, yet they could agree that the current approach Read more

HARRISBURG, March 1 -- House Democratic Policy Committee Vice Chair Mary Isaacson, D-Philadelphia, will host a virtual hearing to discuss the charter school crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The hearing will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 2 . To view, the media and public can tune in to www.pahouse.com/policycommittee or the committee’s Facebook page -- @PADemPolicy. Media inquiries may be submitted via email to policy@pahouse.net . Isaacson will be joined by committee Chairman Ryan Bizzarro and Democratic Policy Committee members to examine the impact charter school enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic has had on public school budgets. The meeting is one in a series collecting information that will help Pennsylvania better recover from COVID-19 and improve access to quality education. Read more

The COVID/Charter Crisis - Testimony Read more