Plymouth Meeting, PA, Wednesday, February 28, 2024 – Arthur Steinberg, President of AFT Pennsylvania, issued the following statement on behalf of the more than 36,000 members of the Commonwealth’s statewide affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers on Wednesday following Pennsylvania Senator Lindsey Williams’ announcement that she will introduce a moratorium on cyber charter approvals:
“We applaud Senator Lindsey Williams’ swift action to stop the approval of any new cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania until reforms are implemented.
“Senator Williams is right: cyber charter schools consistently underperform traditional public schools and brick and mortar charter schools and are operated by unaccountable for-profit corporations. Until they are held to the same transparency standards as their traditional public-school counterparts, not a single one should be approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
“Incredibly, cyber charters are one of the top drivers of property tax increases in Pennsylvania, as we spend about $1 billion annually on cyber charter tuition, which is not uniform across all districts.
“Senator Williams continues to make us proud in standing up for students, educators, and taxpayers.”
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