General auditor Timothy L. Defoor released Five Cyber efficiency audit -chorea which shows from 2020 to 2023, legally increased revenues by $ 425 million and a 144%reserve, partly due to the obsolete financing formula, which does not utilize the actual costs of instructions to determine the tuition feature, set guidelines for expenses or set limits for cyber Charter school school book funds.
“I am now the third general auditor who looked at this problem and the third who came to the same conclusion: the formula of financing the Cyber charter, these schools can keep reserve,” said Defoor.
“Our recommendation is that in the next six months the governor should designate a task group for reviewing the financing formula and referring it to the report within nine months, determining a new formula, which is fair, reasonable and balanced, and the general assembly should operate in Over six months from the task group report to facilitate the adoption of the provisions. The most important thing we can do is to provide our children with high -quality education and as leaders to postpone our personal programs aside and fix the way we finance education in this state. “
Five cyber -partner schools selected for the audit were:
“In this audit we found that these cyber charter of the school legally raised their revenues from USD 473 million in the 2019-2020 tax year to USD 898 million in the tax year 2022-2023,” said Defoor. “We found cases of Cyber Charter Schools legally using taxpayers’ dollars about such things as staff bonuses, gift cards, vehicle payments and fuel scholarships. In addition, the Commonwealth Charter Academy has spent $ 196 million on the purchase and/or renovation of 21 buildings, which seems a bit unusual for us for a public school based on online teaching. “
The audit reviewed revenues and expenses and informed about the financial situation of Cyber Charter Schools, including an analysis of the general fund’s balances from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2023. The audit stated that each cyber school has significant and legal revenues in the period. audit, partly due to the raise in registration during the Covid-19 pandemic and an raise in tuition fees. The tuition indicator depends on the financing formula developed in 2002, which bases tuition on cybernetic charter on what the budgets of the school district for the education of each student, and not the actual amount spent on education.
“Let me look at you in the perspective, in 2002 we still use Dial UP to access the Internet, disk were the best way to store and share data, and the iPhone and iPad were not invented,” said Defoor. “Think about how many technologies, teaching strategies and resources have changed from the Covid-19 pandemic, not to mention the last two decades. This is clearly the time to change. “
“Cybernetic charter schools exist in a delicate financial balance. Unlike traditional district schools, Cyber Charters cannot rely on consistent financing sources, such as local and state taxes, said Commonwealth Foundation Senior Education Policy Analyst Rachel Langan. “The only way to provide a stable, predictable environment for students, teachers and staff is to maintain a reliable reserve.
“To ensure the fair and responsible use of taxpayers’ dollars, we must again assess the way the Funds Community finances all education options. Despite the fact that Pennsylvania is the seventh highest publisher for a student throughout the country, students’ achievements have still got stuck. “
“Pennsylvania cannot afford to wait for a longer time until the legislators take action to protect their voters from the removal of local schools and packing in assets and bank accounts or wasted on pages, advertising, gift cards and other things that do not They are related to student education – he said Susan SpickaExecutive director of Education Voters.
“We recognize the quality of the AG Defoor audit and report, but we do not agree with its recommendation to create a task group to solve this problem. Task group would simply throw the can down the road and assure that dozens or even hundreds of millions of additional tax dollars will be collected or wasted by Cyber -Czarter, while Harrisburg will authorize their hands. It has passed for the Republicans and Democrats in Pa House and the Senate to meet together and, once and for all, align the tuition of cybercriminals paid to the schools of online education to finish this waste and abuse of tax dollars by Cyber Charter Schools. “
