Despite Pa. virtual schools’ poor academic performance, a new cyber charter is approved for the first time in 8 years

Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration approved a new cyber charter school in the state for the first time in eight years, breaking from Democrats’ long-held disapproval of the low-performing virtual schools.

The state Department of Education on Thursday approved Pennwood Cyber Charter School’s application to begin enrolling students for the upcoming school year, after denying their previous applications twice before in January and May 2023.

The quiet approval of a new cyber charter school — which will draw money from school districts — comes as Shapiro prepares an upcoming budget address that will be closely watched for its approach to fixing the state’s broken school funding system.

Since taking office last year, Pennsylvania’s ambitious Democratic governor has tried to balance new, historic investments in public education with Republican school-choice priorities that members of his own party say take away resources from the state’s chronically underfunded public schools.

The new cyber charter school will be based out of an office space in York in south central Pennsylvania, according to the school’s more than 5,000-page application. The K-12 school will aim to “empower students to meet their unique educational and life goals through flexible pacing, college preparatory programming, and career development.”

Marc LeBlond, of Cogan Station just north of Williamsport, submitted the application and will chair the charter’s board. He currently works as the director of policy at school choice research and advocacy group EdChoice, and previously worked for the powerful conservative think-tank Commonwealth Foundation.

Pennsylvania’s cyber charter sector — one of the nation’s largest — has been the target of intense criticism from public education advocates, both for the schools’ poor academic performance and their impact on school district funding.

For instance, in 2022-23, 14% of students at the state’s largest cyber charter, Commonwealth Charter Academy, scored proficient in English language arts on standardized tests; 5.4% of students were proficient in math.

“Giving another school license to bilk school districts for a low-quality education flies in the face of any rational decision-making,” said Donna Cooper, executive director of the Children First advocacy group.

Cooper, who served as a policy adviser to Democratic former Gov. Ed Rendell, said the Pennwood approval “raises a question for me about the caliber and quality of the advice provided to the [education] secretary, and a big red flag about the degree to which the department is taking seriously the performance crisis in the cyber-charter sector.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said the department reviews all cyber charter school applications and determined that Pennwood’s latest application “met the requirements of the charter school law and thus must be approved.”

“The Department strives to ensure that all cyber charter schools are accountable to students, the Commonwealth, and its residents to the extent that the current charter school law allows,” spokesperson Taj Magruder said in a statement.

Shapiro’s office declined to comment.

Unlike brick-and-mortar charter schools, which are authorized by districts, the Department of Education decides whether to open cyber charters, which last year enrolled more than 57,000 Pennsylvania students.

But districts are responsible for the costs and pay the cyber schools for each student they enroll — at the same rate as brick-and-mortar charters. Given the wide variation in how much Pennsylvania districts spend, cyber charters receive different amounts of money per pupil depending on where a student lives.

Efforts to reform cyber charter funding and set a statewide tuition rate have repeatedly stalled in the legislature, though some change could be coming as a result of talks to fix Pennsylvania’s unconstitutional education funding system. Republicans and Democrats on a legislative commission evaluating school funding both issued reports recommending that districts be reimbursed for students who enroll in cyber charters, though Republicans did not endorse curbing payments to the cyber schools.

Sen. Lindsey Williams (D., Allegheny), who is the Democratic chair of the Senate education committee, called it “absurd and fiscally irresponsible” to approve a new cyber charter in light of the Commonwealth Court ruling deeming existing school funding unconstitutional.

“We don’t have a system to hold them accountable,” Williams said of cyber charters, “at a time when we are not adequately and equitably funding our publicly run public schools.”

Susan Spicka, executive director of Education Voters PA, a pro-public-education advocacy group, called Pennwood’s approval “a slap in the face to the elected board members and their constituents in 468 school districts that have passed resolutions calling for additional accountability for cyber charter schools.”

Shapiro “should focus on ensuring public schools are fully funded in compliance with the Commonwealth Court order,” Spicka said, “instead of working to divert more tax dollars into unaccountable and discriminatory private schools through vouchers and through this expansion of the cyber-charter sector.”

Pennwood, which is approved to open July 1, said it expects to enroll 1,800 students in its first year, increasing to 8,200 by year 5.

In arguing that the education department had erred in denying its initial application, including by deeming its growth projections too aggressive, Pennwood noted its affiliation with Pearson Virtual Schools, and the increased enrollment the virtual learning company oversaw while managing Commonwealth Charter Academy and another Pennsylvania charter, Reach Cyber Charter School.

But it also rejected comparisons between its school and the academic performance of those charters, which along with other cyber charters have been designated among the state’s lowest-performing schools — saying that Pearson hadn’t managed Commonwealth Charter for several years.

Donna Hutchison, vice president for educational partnerships at Pearson, said Pennwood will be the only school it’s supporting in Pennsylvania. Currently, the company supports 45 full-time online schools in 29 states, Hutchison said.

“Pearson-supported online schools are solutions for a very mobile student population with a significant percentage of students being new each year,” Hutchison said in a statement. “We know that the longer students stay with our program, the better they perform academically.”

In the letter approving the charter, Secretary of Education Khalid Mumin said the department expects Pennwood Cyber Charter to “take additional action” to address a number of deficiencies in their application, including providing additional documentation of how its courses align with state standards.

Pennwood plans to graduate 85% of students within four years — calling it an “ambitious yet obtainable goal” compared to the statewide cyber charter graduation rate of 60%.

The school also noted its plans to partner with Drexel University’s Goodwin College of Professional Studies to provide project-based learning to high school students.

Pennwood is a necessary cyber school option because of its “unique offerings that are unlike any other cyber charter schools” in Pennsylvania, LeBlond, the charter board chair, said in a statement, noting its Drexel partnership. He also said there was “unmet demand” for cyber charters, citing 40% growth in the sector over the past decade.

Other board members include David Hardy, a distinguished senior fellow at the Commonwealth Foundation who founded and previously led the Boys’ Latin of Philadelphia charter school, and Philadelphia insurance attorney C. Tyler Havey.