Charter school leader blasts Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed charter funding cuts

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is under fire yet again for opposing school choice.

In 2022, Shapiro campaigned on a promise to create a private school voucher program but never followed through.

Now he is supporting a bill to cut funding from public cyber charter schools, one of the most popular forms of public-school choice.

Dr. James Hanak, founder and CEO of the Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School (PALCS), called Shapiro’s proposal a “direct threat to educational equity and choice.”

“Let’s be honest about who benefits from cutting cyber charter school funding,” Hanak wrote in an op-ed. “Traditional school districts would see students – and dollars – return if cyber charters began to shutter operations. Teacher unions, which have struggled to organize cyber school faculty, stand to gain both power and revenue.”

Teachers’ unions almost universally support Democrat politicians, and Shapiro’s campaign allegedly received $1.5 million in illegal donations from the state union.

The bill in question, HB 1500, would cap per-pupil funding for cyber charters at $8,000 rather than funding them like a brick-and-mortar charter. 

In comparison, Pennsylvania’s government-run public schools currently spend over $21,000 per student. 

Charters typically get about 75-80% of district funding – around $16,000 per student. 

HB 1500 would also require cyber charters to return unspent funds to the state while banning them from accumulating large surpluses. 

However, cyber charters have good reason to hold large financial reserves, Hanak argues. 

“Cyber charters face payment delays that traditional districts don’t,” he explained. “Districts collect property taxes upfront – often securing 90% of their annual revenue before school begins. In contrast, cyber charters must bill individual districts for each student and then wait for their reimbursements – sometimes for months.” 

While cyber schools may need less funding for maintaining buildings or school buses, they have unique expenses other schools don’t. 

“Every cyber student receives a state-of-the-art laptop, printer, software, and around-the-clock tech support,” Hanak continued. “This digital infrastructure is the cyber school equivalent of a district’s buildings and buses. 

“Moreover, live instruction plays an essential role. Teachers may work remotely or report to centralized facilities. Cyber charters, like all public schools, require students to attend in-person standardized testing sessions, often in hotels or rented spaces. These logistics come with real costs.” 

Despite these challenges and widespread underfunding, charter school students generally outperform their district counterparts in core academic subjects. 

As previously reported by The Lion, charter enrollment has risen 12% while district schools dropped 3%. Meanwhile, charters are growing in popularity among Black and Hispanic students. 

The Pennsylvania House narrowly approved HB 1500, which is now with the Senate’s education committee.