Pennsylvania needs a better charter rule, plus school choice support from Governor Wolf | Opinion

Earlier this month, Governor Tom Wolf delivered his annual budget address, which included a slash-and-burn “reform” plan to cut $280 million from charter school students. This cut is a direct hit to Pennsylvania’s public schools, urban and rural, that are desperate for increased funding.

Governor Wolf’s budget calls for an additional $100 million in funding for K-12, $25 million for special education, full day kindergarten, a pledge to increase minimum teacher salary and suggests a $200 million investment in scholarships for Pennsylvanians attending state system universities.

But it also includes a devastating hit to the nearly 143,000 charter school students across the state.

Governor Wolf included a hat-tip to charter schools during his address. He noted the importance of their role in providing all parents a choice and boosting competition and innovation within public education. But his proposed changes imply he is more focused on punishing public charter schools rather than ensuring the state’s neediest students and their families have high-quality, well-funded public school options to choose from.

If Governor Wolf’s proposed charter school funding cut is enacted, there is no one who will suffer more than Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable students who have been systematically trapped in failing school districts and without the means to move to a better school district or pay for private school tuition.

Charter school advocates and Governor Wolf agree that Pennsylvania’s Charter School Law needs an update. The law can be strengthened in several areas, especially as it relates to governance, authorizing and accountability, and, most importantly, equitable student funding.

» READ MORE: Cyber charters transformed my struggling kids. Why do Pa. politicians want to change my choice? | Opinion

In Measuring Up to the Model: A Ranking of State Public Charter School Laws, Eleventh Edition, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools ranked the Keystone State 35th out of 45 state charter school laws. This ranking is further evidence of the need for improvements to support increased accountability and equitable funding. When compared to the National Alliance’s “gold standard” charter school law, based on 21 critical benchmarks such as accountability, flexibility, and funding equity, we have opportunity for growth if we want to honor Pennsylvania students by having a charter law that leads the nation.

But the truth is that Governor Wolf is not interested in collaborating on meaningful charter school reform that works for both school districts and charter schools. If he were, his administration would have engaged with the public charter school community over the last five years to assist in our efforts to pass bipartisan charter school reforms through the General Assembly.

The Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools, which I lead, is focused on elevating four bills that passed the PA House in June (House Bills (HB) 355, 356, 357 and 358). These bills cover a wide range of critical improvements, including increasing transparency and accountability, allowing for dual-credit higher education enrollment programs, providing charter schools greater access to school facilities, and streamlining the charter school application and renewal process.

» READ MORE: Which are the best, most improved Philly schools? District reveals them.

All Pennsylvanians must work together to improve the quality of our public education system and a crucial step is to strengthen Pennsylvania’s Charter School Law. Updates to this law should promote high-quality public school options for students and accountability for taxpayers. For example, our HB 355 proposes codifying ethics and transparency requirements for charter schools, their administrators, and board of trustees by making all parties subject to the Pennsylvania Ethics Act.

Though the Governor often touts his willingness to bring stakeholders together to collaborate, it seems that invitation only applies to individuals who share his political ideologies. By making draconian cuts to charter school funding, Governor Wolf is proposing a public education system that discriminates against children based on what public school choices their families make, and that is something our Commonwealth cannot stand for.

Charter school students and their families are not second-class citizens. We need Governor Wolf to work with both Democrats and Republicans to reform our Charter School Law and champion equitable funding for all public school students.

Ana Meyers is the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools (PCPCS), the state’s largest and most active organization advocating for brick-and-mortar and cyber charter schools.