"We have to make sure [these schools] are not making a windfall off the people of Pennsylvania. The districts should be billed on what the actual costs are," Stairs, R-Westmoreland, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review for a story in December.
As the advent virtual schools and e-learning 'environments' begin to gain more and more momentum in the world of education, this story out of Pennsylvania certainly deserves attention:
"Bricks and Clicks in PA Funding Fight: Lawmakers question cyber-school funding formula", eSchool News and wire service reports, 1.3.06
Basic backstory:
Pennsylvania state lawmakers are looking to revise a funding formula that reportedly allows the state's 12 cyber charter schools to pocket more money than their expenses--a formula that has been sore spot with school districts since it was implemented in 2000.
What lies behind this latest debate?
- Parents of cyber-school students do not pay tuition. Rather, the public school district where the student lives pays tuition with state and local tax money through a state formula.
- Students who attend cyber schools are linked to their classrooms via computer. Cyber schools do not incur costs for transportation and athletics, and they do not need to maintain large school buildings.
- Officials at Pennsylvania's cyber schools say changing the formula will hurt their more than 10,000 students. But public school superintendents counter that the formula hurts their students, too.
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