Capitolwire by John Finnerty, November 26, 2021 (Republished with permission)

State lawmakers ended their fall legislative session without confronting the budget-busting crisis for local school districts faced with skyrocketing cyber school bills. A group of school superintendents described the challenges they’re facing trying to manage their cyber school bills while waiting for state action on the issue in a roundtable discussion sponsored Friday by the Keystone Center for Charter Change, an initiative of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. Lawrence Feinberg, director of the Center for Charter Change, said that 1-in-5 dollars in local property tax is now being diverted out of the traditional public schools and to charter schools and the cyber schools. He said the schools group would like the General Assembly to act on House Bill 272, introduced by Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery. Feinberg said the legislation has bipartisan support, with about 20 percent of the more than 70 cosponsors of the bill being Republicans.

Read more in the November 30 PA Charter Change Roundup.