Levent Kaya: Fair charter school reform is necessary

If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it is that families are looking for more, not fewer, education choices for their children.

When the Charter School Law was enacted in an overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion in 1997, the legislative intent, expressed in the law was to “establish and maintain schools that operate independently from the existing school district structure” and as such to: improve pupil learning, increase learning opportunities, encourage different and innovative teaching methods, create new professional development opportunities for teachers, provide families and pupils with expanded choices in the types of educational opportunities that are available in the public school system, all while holding the charter schools accountable.

This independence from the traditional public school system was found to be something that was needed and for the public good. The concept of playing by the exact same rules of traditional public schools was specifically not part of the charter school law. Rather, charter schools are meant to be independent and have the ability to be flexible and innovative.

For example, at Young Scholars of Central PA Charter School, we teach Chinese and Spanish to all of our students. We have Extended Day program between 3:50-5:10 p.m., we teach Character Education, we have small class sizes, and we are an International Baccalaureate World School. These innovations would not necessarily be possible if charter schools were required to follow all of the requirements of the Public School Code of 1949.

That is not to say that charter schools are avoiding accountability. Indeed, charter school trustees are considered public officials that must comply with the State Ethics Act. Charter schools must follow the Sunshine Act, Right to Know Law, Special Education laws, complete annual audits, and follow many other requirements.

Charter schools are accountable, and every five years, they have to prove that to continue to operate through the renewal process. The continued existence of every charter school depends upon compliance with the law and its charter.

There are a number of other factors that are important to understand:

• Charter schools are legally required to accept all students who apply unless they have more applicants than spaces, and then they hold a lottery. Charter schools cannot pick and choose whom they enroll.
• The Charter School Law expressly provides that trustees shall serve without compensation. Charter schools are also legally required to be formed as nonprofit corporations. Charter Schools qualify as 501(c)(3) organizations under federal tax law, which further provides protection to the public against private benefits to trustees.
• At Young Scholars, we spend 2 cents of every $1,000 revenue on advertising. We do that to reach out to all families and offer our school as a choice, and to inform the public of the wonderful things our teachers are doing.
• As to the matter of funding, charter schools actually get only about 70 cents on the dollar that public schools spend on public school students. Public money is just that, public — it is not the school district’s money, but rather, should follow the student.

We can all agree that the Charter School Law should be updated. However, with now almost 10% of Pennsylvania’s K-12 students attending a charter, to argue that the law should be “reformed” to the detriment of charters is simply not fair. If we can get beyond the surface rhetoric, we may be able to serve Pennsylvania’s students better together, school districts, and charters.