Contact: Christina Zarek
(717) 805-2337
christina.zarek@nndsonline.org
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
MIDLAND, PA – As the leader of commonwealth’s largest online school, Dr. Nick Trombetta today applauded the Corbett administration for including in its 2011-12 budget proposal concepts already working for children enrolled in the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School.
“We appreciate the situation the commonwealth is in financially, and want to be a part of the solution, Trombetta said. “In many ways, we feel we are already a part of the solution, having offered so many children an educational opportunity they otherwise would never have had.”
Trombetta, who began PA Cyber ten years ago with a $25,000 planning grant, said the budget proposal unveiled yesterday recognizes that charter schools have played a vital role in spurring competition and innovation and given families quality educational options.
“We are pleased that this budget proposal has taken a page out of our own playbook and rewards those of us who have helped children succeed through innovation and technology,” Trombetta said. “Our children have one shot at a quality education, and need options, particularly when they’re faced with a school that consistently performs poorly.”
In addition to the proposals that encourage student achievement through innovation, Trombetta said PA Cyber also welcomes the administration’s commitment to strengthening ethical and performance standards and injecting quality, accountability and transparency into charter and cyber charter schools.
“We will strive to set the bar,” he said. “Having met AYP for the past two years, we are as committed now to strengthening our performance and demonstrating to taxpayers that we are helping children achieve – and surpass – expectations defined through educational standards.”
As the budget process moves forward, Trombetta said he is hopeful the legislature and the administration will put students first.
“We recognize that yesterday’s budget proposal was the first step in a challenging process with limited resources, and hope our elected officials will look to the many examples we’ve set for solutions to help our children thrive,” he said.
PA Cyber was launched in 2000, when 500 students enrolled. Today it serves 10,000 students across Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) math and reading tests, PA Cyber students last year met or surpassed every performance target, attaining the standards for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as defined by the federal government and as tested by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Associated Press
Monday, February 7, 2011
HARRISBURG -- Supporters call school vouchers a matter of choice, a lifeline for children stuck in broken schools. Opponents deride them as unconstitutional and unworkable and warn that they will erode conditions in some of Pennsylvania's most troubled schools. The debate over taxpayer-paid tuition vouchers to help poor children find alternatives to attending the state's weakest-performing public schools will come to the fore soon in the General Assembly. On Feb. 16, the chairman of the Senate Education Committee will lead a hearing on his bill to establish the Opportunity Scholarship and Educational Improvement Tax Credit Act.
Although aspects of the proposal would be phased in, by its third year the bill would allow public school students whose families make no more than 130 percent of federal poverty guidelines -- about $29,000 for a family of four -- to take the per-pupil subsidy that state government sends to their school district and use it to attend a different private, public or religious school.
It would increase funding from $75 million to $100 million for an existing program that gives tax breaks to businesses that finance tuition scholarships for children from lower-income families. "This is a freedom issue, an issue that parents find themselves trapped in a district that isn't serving the needs of their child," said the prime sponsor, Sen. Jeff Piccola, R-Dauphin. He said precise cost figures are being worked out.
Republican Gov. Tom Corbett and a prominent Democratic state senator, Anthony Hardy Williams of Philadelphia, supported vouchers when they were candidates in last year's campaign.
The proposal faces opposition from the state school boards association and teacher unions.
Sen. Daylin Leach, a Montgomery County Democrat who serves on the Education Committee that Piccola chairs, said a voucher law that subsidizes private school tuition would drain resources from some of the most troubled school districts. When a student leaves, the school still has to pay teachers, the electric bill and other fixed costs, he said.
"When you talk about 'leaving children behind,' there's no more stark example," Leach said.
Leach said state money for private school tuition would have to come with greater accountability, something the schools themselves might not want. He has doubts about how many schools will accept the vouchers.
"One of the things that high-performing, affluent schools sell is class size is lower," he said.
"Are they going to want to take a bunch of kids at half the (tuition) price, or less? It's not going to happen." The Pennsylvania School Boards Association argues that vouchers would violate the state constitution and exacerbate the problems of the state's worst public schools. The association says parents may choose different schools for many reasons, not simply because their child's current school is academically weak, and they challenge the contention that vouchers in other states have improved student performance.
Tom Barnes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Sunday, February 06, 2011
HARRISBURG -- It's a powerful photograph, highlighting the angry racial turmoil of the 1960s: It shows Alabama Gov. George Wallace standing in a schoolhouse door vowing to stop black students from entering.
The photo has appeared in ads in six newspapers around Pennsylvania. "School choice" advocates, from Philadelphia and out-of-state, are using the segregationist image to focus on what they see as a modern-day problem for poor minority students in public schools.
"The plight of children in failing schools, particularly minority students in low-income districts, has rightly been called the 'civil rights issue of the 21st century,'" said former Republican congressman Dick Armey of Texas. "The opponents of school choice have become the anti-reformers of today.''
Mr. Armey is chairman of a Washington, D.C.-based group called FreedomWorks, which is helping a suburban Philadelphia group called The Kitchen Table Patriots press the state Legislature to enact taxpayer-funded tuition vouchers. Low-income students could use them to escape their "failing" local public school, supporters say. School choice "is an issue whose time has come," said Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education Reform, also of Washington, which spent $70,000 on the ads.
A school choice/tuition vouchers bill, now before the state Senate, pertains to lower-income pupils in "failing" schools that don't meet state academic standards. There are 144 such schools in the state. Family incomes must meet federal guidelines, such as $26,000 a year for a family of four.
Under Senate Bill 1, parents could use the state-funded vouchers to send their children to a private, charter or parochial school outside the public school district where they live.
The newspaper ads were mainly sponsored by the Center for Education Reform but other sponsors were from Philly, such as the North Penn Civic Association, the Palmer Foundation, the Philadelphia Residents Coalition and Black Men at Penn.
The ad said, "In many inner-city schools, more than 40 percent of the students do not learn to read, write or do math. Teacher union and school board officials are blocking needed education reforms." The ads may be run again, said Ms. Allen, who called vouchers "a new publicly funded scholarship program for families that cannot make the choices more affluent families make every day."
Several hundred people crammed into the Capitol rotunda 10 days ago for a rally in favor of Senate Bill 1. One was Walter Palmer, head of the 50-year-old Palmer Foundation, who has been seeking more educational opportunities for minorities since creating all-volunteer "freedom schools" in Philly in the 1960s.
Senate Bill 1 has two main sponsors, Sens. Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin, and Anthony Williams, D-Philadelphia. The Senate Education Committee, which Mr. Piccola chairs, will debate the bill Feb. 16 and could vote on it in March.
The bill would provide "opportunity scholarships" for low-income parents of children in academically "failing" schools. The scholarships would equal the amount of per-pupil aid the state gives to a local school district, which in some cases is $12,000 or more. Tuition vouchers are just one alternative to traditional public schools. Others include private and parochial schools, charter schools, home schooling and education tax credits, where businesses donate money for private school scholarships and then get credits on their state taxes.
The state's current education tax credit program was begun 10 years ago under then-Gov. Tom Ridge, and now offers $75 million in tax credits for businesses that offer private scholarships. The Piccola-Williams bill would increase that figure to $100 million. The D.C.-based FreedomWorks says it has 1 million members nationwide and calls itself "a nonprofit service center for grass-roots activists looking to get more involved in the limited-government movement."
Spokeswoman Jackie Bodnar said members have sent more than 2,000 e-mails and letters to Pennsylvania legislators "urging them to expand education options for children and allow low-income kids trapped in chronically failing [public] schools to attend a school of their choosing."
A leader of The Kitchen Table Patriots is Ana Puig of Doylestown, Bucks County, who also attended the recent state Capitol rally. She is also active in the tea party political movement.
She said FreedomWorks has provided her volunteers with advice on contacting legislators and alternatives to public schools where many students don't meet state standards in reading and math. "I believe in the public school system," said Ms. Puig, who has three children in public schools in Bucks County. "But I want to see free-market competition in education in Pennsylvania. The choice of where our kids go to school should not be made by government bureaucrats. It should be made by parents."
Another Philadelphia-based group for vouchers is Students First, whose chairman, Joe Watkins, ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor in 2010.
He said Pennsylvania should "ensure every student has access to a high-quality education." His group is associated with the national Students First group founded by Michelle Rhee, former head of the D.C. public schools. Students First is getting help from the American Federation for Children, also based in Washington, D.C. Also watching what happens in Pennsylvania is Doug Tuthill of Florida, who started Step Up for Students 10 years ago. He came to Harrisburg last fall to address Mr. Piccola's Senate Education Committee as it kicked off the drive for school choice.
Last year the Tuthill group gave out scholarships of $4,100 each to more than 30,000 students from kindergarten through grade 12, with another 10,000 students on a waiting list. The scholarships can be used at 1,200 private schools in Florida, alternatives to poorly performing public schools. The money comes from businesses that get state tax credits in exchange.
In Pennsylvania, the greatest push for taxpayer-funded vouchers has come from the southeast. Philadelphia and Chester (in neighboring Delaware County) have many schools with academic problems and poor test results.
Mr. Palmer said that of the 130 charter schools in the state, 70 are in Philadelphia, a sign of trouble with public schools. Of the 144 "failing" public schools in the state, Ms. Puig said 91 are in the southeast.
The problems for low-income parents mirror what is happening in Florida, where poorer parents, "whose children are in the greatest need, are driving the growth" in scholarships for nonpublic schools, Mr. Tuthill said.
Critics of vouchers, such as the Pennsylvania State Education Association, a major teachers' union, and the Pennsylvania School Boards Association say they would divert much-needed state funding from public schools.
The PSBA commissioned a poll of 805 respondents, where two-thirds opposed taxpayer-funded vouchers. "The results of this survey show there clearly is not the public support for such a program," said association executive director Thomas Gentzel.
But Senate Bill 1's chances seem good, with Republicans controlling the House and Senate and Gov. Tom Corbett supporting vouchers. Mr. Corbett proclaimed the last week of January as Pennsylvania School Choice Week, part of a national effort for school choice, which included 125 events in 40 states.
Amy Worden, Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau
January 26, 2011
HARRISBURG - Borrowing the language and imagery of the civil rights movement, speaker after speaker told a crowd that filled the Capitol Rotunda Tuesday that the failing public schools of today are no different than the segregated schools of a half-century ago.
Hundreds of supporters of a proposal to help low-income children transfer to schools of their choice rallied boisterously under the Capitol dome, portraying the issue as the new educational battleground.
"We are ready to challenge any and all who oppose freedom, who oppose choice," said Sen. Jeffrey Piccola (R., Dauphin), holding up a copy of Senate Bill 1, his proposal to create state-funded vouchers.
Piccola, who first proposed vouchers 16 years ago, said he was ready to take on the educational establishment to see his bill through. Lest anyone wonder who Piccola meant, he singled out the Pennsylvania State Education Association, which is the state's largest teachers union, and the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.
"Vouchers is not a four-letter word," Piccola said. "PSEA is a four-letter word, and PSBA is a four-letter word."
The rally came a week after Gov. Corbett pledged in his inaugural address to fulfill his campaign promise to deliver school choice to Pennsylvania families.
Tuesday's Rotunda rally brought together an unusual coalition of voucher supporters: urban and rural, white and black, Republican, Democratic, and tea party.
The proposal's prime champion, the governor, was there by proxy. Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley stood in for Corbett, who he said was unable to make the event.
Under Senate Bill 1, the state would redirect a substantial block of public-school dollars - on average, about $9,000 per pupil - to help low-income parents pay tuition at a private, parochial, or charter school of their choosing. The money could also help cover tuition if parents chose a public school in another district. The bill would first target low-income children in the worst-performing schools, and expand over three years to become available to such children at all public schools.
At Tuesday's rally, hundreds of parents and children from charter schools, mostly in Philadelphia - where proponents say as many as 50,000 children are on waiting lists for 74 charters - waved signs and chanted, "My child, my choice."
Vouchers would allow students to choose their schools
Tom Barnes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
January 26, 2011
HARRISBURG -- Political momentum is building for taxpayer-funded school tuition vouchers, as hundreds of people clogged the Capitol rotunda Tuesday to support the idea of "school choice."
Many of those attending were elementary and high school students wearing shirts reading "Put Students First -- Support School Choice."
Dawn Chavous, of Philadelphia-based political action committee Students First, repeatedly shouted, "My child!" The large crowd loudly replied, "My choice!"
During the recent campaign, Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley told the boisterous crowd, Gov. Tom Corbett "repeatedly said that things would change in education. Today we start that process of putting children first. State government should be open to and promote charter schools, home schools, private schools and cyber schools" as well as traditional public schools, he said.
"I'm more excited and encouraged about the possibility of educational change than I've ever been," said Sen. Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin, who has been advocating state-funded tuition vouchers for 15 years.
Supporters argue that state education funds should be portable -- meaning students, with their parents' permission, could use them for tuition at private, charter or parochial schools rather than being forced to attend only the public schools in the school district where they reside. Many students are now "trapped" into attending poorly performing public schools, said Sen. Anthony Williams, D-Philadelphia.
The idea is getting a serious political push this year, with Mr. Piccola and other Republicans, joined by Democrat Mr. Williams plus conservatives such as Ana Puig of The Kitchen Table Patriots and a national group called FreedomWorks, headed by former congressman Dick Armey.
The cost of taxpayer-funded tuition vouchers is likely to become an issue, with opponents, such as the Pennsylvania State Education Association, a major teachers union, and the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, fearing that vouchers would deprive public schools of needed funding. The money for vouchers would be deducted from the per-student state subsidies now given to the student's home school district.
But Mr. Piccola said competition from private or parochial schools should make public schools more efficient and ultimately lower costing.
His bill, Senate Bill 1, would create a three-phase program for making state-funded vouchers available to low-income students who now have no choice but to go to public schools that consistently score poorly on state proficiency tests.
The first year of vouchers should cost the state "less than $50 million," Mr. Piccola said. Only low-income students (as defined by federal income guidelines) who go to a poorly performing school would be voucher-eligible.
The second year should cost the state "less than $100 million," he said. More students would be eligible -- all low-income students living in the attendance area of a persistently low-achieving school whether they attend that particular school or not. In the third year, any low-income student would be eligible. Mr. Piccola didn't have a cost estimate for that year.
The Senate Education Committee will hold a hearing on the bill in mid-February, and it could get a Senate vote in March. Since Republicans control both the Senate and House, and since Gov. Tom Corbett supports the school choice idea, the bill is likely to be enacted. But opponents could file a court challenge.
Pa. Senate Education chair visits PA Cyber, Lincoln Park charter schools
Making that turn onto Freedom Road brought me right into Midland . . . one of the great examples of what freedom in education can do.” - State Sen. Jeffrey Piccola
MIDLAND, Pa., May 11/PR Newswire/ – Charter schools and their students are succeeding because they follow “Freedom Road,” Pennsylvania State Sen. Jeffrey Piccola (R-15) told an audience of 700 students, teachers and administrators during a visit to the PA Cyber and Lincoln Park Performing Arts charter schools.
Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School CEO Dr. Nick Trombetta called Sen. Piccola a champion for charter schools and assured him of support from the charter community as he guides new legislation to improve accountability and oversight of charter schools.
Accompanying Piccola on the May 7 tour were two local state legislators, State Sen. Elder A. Vogel Jr. (R-47) and State Rep. Jim Marshall (R-14).
Making his first visit to the two Midland-based charter schools, the Senate Education Committee chairman said he traveled that morning by car from Wexford, Pa., after visiting grandchildren there.
“When I left, my GPS told me to take a turn onto Freedom Road,” he told a full-house audience in the mainstage theater of Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center. “What a wonderful metaphor. Making that turn onto Freedom Road brought me right into Midland . . . one of the great examples of what freedom in education can do.”
Piccola said charter schools such as PA Cyber and Lincoln Park “create a model where you make the choice, your parents make the choice, to obtain an education which is in the best interests of you. In a free society the more shackles and more restrictions and more regulations that are put on your freedom, the less opportunity you, your peers and your parents have to maximize your talents.”
Piccola said when he helped write the Pennsylvania charter school law in 1997 and the cyber charter school law in 2002 “we were going down uncharted paths, but instinctively I knew we were going down the path to freedom. I didn’t have faith in any particular system or any particular institution. I had my faith in the concept of freedom.”
He asked students to remember one thing from his visit: that their opportunity to attend PA Cyber or Lincoln Park “came about because of being on that road to freedom.”
Dr. Trombetta called Sen. Piccola a “best friend of school choice” and “a champion for us, for the 75,000 charter school students and their families statewide, and for families in all schools in Pennsylvania.”
He told Piccola, “I know you are working very hard on new legislation that will make all charter schools better. We support you, we are going to continue to make you proud, and wherever you go, we are going to follow you down that road.”
On May 4 the Senate Education Committee, chaired by Piccola and Minority Chairman Andrew Dinniman (D-19), unanimously approved a bill introduced by Piccola and Dinniman to crack down on financial abuses and increase transparency among the state’s 135 charter schools.
The legislators were serenaded at the door by the Lincoln Park Steel Drum Band. Student performers in Lincoln Park Performing Art Charter School’s spring musical, “Bye Bye Birdie,” took the stage to perform the first song in that show, “The Telephone Hour,” and members of the Lincoln Park Chorus sang the national anthem.
“The charter school movement in Pennsylvania is strong and successful, and provides high-quality, innovative choices for students and families,” Piccola said. “Our bill should go a long way in preserving high-quality choices for young children and families.”
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