Pa. charter school overhaul legislation proposed

Aiming to end abuses recently uncovered in Philadelphia-area charter schools, a bipartisan legislative committee yesterday unveiled a sweeping overhaul of the state's 12-year-old charter law.

The proposal takes a carrot-and-stick approach, pushing changes that would enable charters to grow in size and number, but holding them to far stricter standards of accountability and oversight.

The changes "were developed in response to several stories written by The Philadelphia Inquirer on the fiscal abuses of some Philadelphia-based charter schools over the last several months," said a statement accompanying the legislation proposed by Sen. Jeffrey E. Piccola (R., Dauphin), the majority chair, and Sen. Andrew E. Dinniman (D., West Chester), minority chair of the Education Committee.

The Inquirer has detailed allegations of fiscal mismanagement and fraud that have resulted in an ongoing criminal probe of at least six charters by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The federal criminal investigation of area charter schools was launched in the spring of 2008 after The Inquirer reported allegations of fiscal mismanagement and nepotism at Philadelphia Academy.

"If some good has come out of the difficult situation in Philadelphia, it's the realization that you just can't assume - you have to protect public money and make sure it's spent in the most effective way for students," Dinniman said.

The legislation proposes:

Increasing financial oversight of charters. The proposed Office of Charter and Cyber Charter Schools in the Department of Education would have the authority to investigate complaints of fraud and financial mismanagement such as those raised by parents at the Agora Cyber Charter School in Devon.

Limiting the hiring of relatives, such as occurred at Philadelphia Academy in the Northeast and Community Academy in Kensington.

Allowing 25 parents to ask the court to remove charter school board members who fail to follow the law. Parents who voiced questions at Agora and Philadelphia Academy were told they could withdraw their children. Agora founder Dorothy June Brown sued several parents who questioned Agora's contract with a management company she owned.

Barring charter administrators from being paid through contracts with the district that authorized the charter. Former administrators at Philadelphia Academy had a special-education contract with the Philadelphia District. The top two administrators at Community Academy run a nonprofit that has an alternative-education contract with the district.

When the charter law was passed in 1997, legislators expected school districts to monitor the schools, said Piccola, who helped draft it.

"The reason most of the charters have gotten into trouble is because of benign neglect," Piccola said. Too often, he said, districts approve charters and then ignore them until renewal.

Dinniman said: "There is a clear need for additional accountability on Pennsylvania's charter school community in order to prevent the abuses we have seen in recent months."

Their proposal comes a week after the sentencing of former Philadelphia Academy chief executive officer Kevin O'Shea to 33 months in prison for looting about $900,000 from the charter. At O'Shea's hearing, Judge Edwardo C. Robreno called for more government oversight of the taxpayer-funded charters so "this type of criminal activity is not allowed to be repeated."

Piccola noted that his committee had been reviewing the state charter law for more than six months and had held a hearing in March.

Piccola said the bill, which will be introduced in Harrisburg soon, would give the state Department of Education responsibility for overseeing the state's 128 charter schools and provide a uniform process for applications and renewals.

Under the present law, the department only oversees the 11 cyber charter schools that provide online instruction statewide to students in their homes.

The proposal also seeks to make charter administrators and board members more accountable by ensuring they follow the state ethics law.

The law also contains provisions that would help the charter movement grow: Colleges and universities could approve the opening of charters. Charters could be renewed for 10 years instead of five. The law would also remove all caps on enrollment. Caps have been an issue between some districts and rapidly growing charters.

Piccola said the 1997 charter law, "brought unique educational opportunities to our commonwealth and provided exciting options and choices for students. . . .

"But in the 12 years since the law was initiated, we have learned what works and what does not work with the current law."

Lawrence Jones Jr., president of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Charter Schools, said the organization supports strong accountability for charters and concurred that it is time to update the law.

"We need to look at what is working and what is not working," he said. He called the proposal "very timely," and "a responsible piece of legislation that will spark a lot of positive dialogue."

Many of the proposed accountability provisions were drawn from a model law that the Washington-based National Alliance of Public Charter Schools released in June.

Piccola said the Education Committee's proposal had been updated and altered to reflect recent developments, including disclosures of charter problems.

One provision that allows parents to seek court intervention was added after Brown sued several parents who asked questions about Agora's financial relationship with a Brown company. The parents complained to the state after Agora's board rebuffed them.

"That was the incident that brought to light the need for this provision," Piccola said.

Parents, he said, make a commitment to send the child to a charter. "If there are problems, their only recourse should not be to have to leave the school."

He and Dinniman are seeking cosponsors for the proposal and are hopeful it will receive broad support.

"I think the prognosis is pretty good," Dinniman said. "As with any piece of legislation, there are going to be different points of view, but it's best to put everything on the table at once."

While the Rendell administration has lobbied for changes in charter school law, neither the governor nor his education secretary have taken a position on this proposal.

The administration has called for a statewide tuition for cyber charters and changes in how charters are funded for special education students. Charters receive the same amount whether a child has mild or serious learning problems.

The legislative proposal calls for creating a funding advisory committee to examine how charters and cyber charters are funded.

Piccola said he plans to meet soon with Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak to discuss the proposed law.

He expects to hold hearings early next year.

Charter schools are publicly funded schools that are free from many of the restrictions of traditional public schools. They are overseen by independent boards.

About 67,000 students across the state are enrolled in charter schools.