Pa. makes charter school change that will help some districts
Pennsylvania's Education Department is expected to announce on Friday an immediate change in state charter school policy that may cheer some school districts.
Pennsylvania's Education Department is expected to announce on Friday an immediate change in state charter school policy that may cheer some school districts.
A letter to be emailed to charter schools will inform them that the department will no longer allow the schools to bill it directly for payments when there are enrollment disputes with school districts for past years, according to a Wolf administration source.
The letter points out that a 2012 Commonwealth Court decision said state law permits charter schools to seek direct payment from the state only for claims in a current school year.
The Education Department says it therefore no longer is allowed to withhold money from a district and give it to a charter to settle claims from previous years.
The matter must be handled directly between the charter school and the district. Charter schools and districts are still allowed to reconcile previous-year payments on their own without involving the department.
The administration of former Gov. Tom Corbett delayed implementing the court's decision and continued to allow charter schools to obtain payments from the department for past years, the letter said.
The policy change will affect 75 of the state's more than 185 charter schools. They will have to work directly with students' home districts to resolve old disputes.
No information was available Thursday night on the financial impact of the change.
At issue is a provision in the state charter school law that allows the schools to seek direct payment in enrollment disputes. The department deducts the amount from the school district's share of state funds and sends the money to the charter school.
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