Education Voters PA

A few weeks ago I was sitting on the couch watching Hulu when I noticed something:

It felt like every commercial break had another Commonwealth Charter Academy ad.

Eventually I got curious and scanned the QR code. That led me down a rabbit hole that ended with a Right-to-Know request, an appeal to the Office of Open Records, and months spent trying to answer what I thought was a pretty simple question:

How much are taxpayers spending on the 1,000+ field trips and events CCA advertises every year? The answer? We still don't know.

I wrote about what happened, why our request was denied, and why we're filing a new one.

Transparency shouldn't be this difficult.

1,000+ CCA Field Trips Per Year and Still No Price Tag - Education Voters PA At the end of the day, I like to unwind with my guilty pleasure shows on Hulu. It’s usually my chance to disconnect from the world of education advocacy for a few hours. A few weeks ago, though, education policy followed me to the couch. During nearly every commercial break, I was greeted by an [....

School vouchers are a scam.

✅The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh receives millions of tax dollars through PA’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program.
✅Catholic schools in the Diocese more than DOUBLE their tuition and overhaul their financial aid system.
✅Families end up paying MORE in tuition AFTER the Diocese received millions in tax credit voucher funding.
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Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh families left with questions after "monumental change" to tuition bills Many families with children attending schools in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh said they are trying to figure out the logic behind their upcoming tuition bills.

In 2024, the legislature passed Act 55, which requires all public school entities to disclose total expenditures for paid media advertising and sponsorships of public events beginning this year.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education recently published this data from the schools’ annual financial reports for the 2024-2025 school year.

We took a look, did a little math, and found that for the 2024-2025 school year:

▪️On average, each school district in the commonwealth spent $6898 on advertising and promotion costs.

▪️On average, each cyber charter school that reported this data spent more than $1.6 million annually.

We applaud Pennsylvania lawmakers who supported legislation creating additional transparency for cyber charters’ outrageous waste of tax dollars on advertising and promotion.

See full data set and spending here; https://www.pa.gov/agencies/education/programs-and-services/schools/grants-and-funding/school-finances/financial-data/summary-of-annual-financial-report-data

That’s a wrap!

All 253 members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, plus Governor Shapiro, now have a copy of the new PA Schools Work adequacy report in hand.

The message is simple: adequacy funding is delivering real results in communities across Pennsylvania. As budget negotiations continue, lawmakers have the opportunity to keep building on that progress and continue investing in the students and schools that make our Commonwealth stronger.

Cyber charter schools receive hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars each year. Yet six of Pennsylvania's largest cyber charters don't post their board packets online.

When board materials are not posted online, families, taxpayers, and community members cannot easily review meeting agendas, financial reports, contracts, invoices, and other materials that help explain how these publicly-funded schools operate.

The only way to receive the information that cyber charter board members discuss and vote on is to file a Right-To-Know Request. And even then, access isn't immediate. Under Pennsylvania law, agencies have five business days to respond to a Right-to-Know request and can take an additional 30-day extension. Our experience is that cybers almost always take the 30-day extension.

We don't think transparency should come with a waiting period.

That's why we've launched the Cyber Charter Transparency Center as part of our "According To Their Records" series, a growing collection of cyber charter board packets obtained through Right-to-Know requests and made available in one central location.

Whether you're looking for financial reports, board agendas, spending approvals, contracts, or other public records, this growing archive is designed to bring greater transparency to Pennsylvania's cyber charter sector.

Check out the packets we've collected so far. And stay tuned — March, April, and May packets are still tied up in Right-to-Know delays.

CYBER CHARTER TRANSPARENCY HUB - Education Voters PA HOME ABOUT WHO WE ARE COALITIONS CONTACT US PUBLIC EDUCATION CHAMPIONS MEET OUR PUBLIC EDUCATION CHAMPIONS BECOME A PUBLIC EDUCATION CHAMPION PAST PUBLIC EDUCATION CHAMPIONS ISSUES & REPORTS CYBER CHECK REGISTRY REPORT TAXPAYER-FUNDED VOUCHERS CYBER CHARTER REAL ESTATE CHARTER SCHOOLS SPECIAL EDUCAT...

Join Education Voters of PA's Executive Director, Susan Spicka, along with other PA Schools Work representatives on Wednesday, June 3 at 12 PM for a webinar unveiling a new report on how Pennsylvania’s recent adequacy investments are reaching classrooms across the Commonwealth—and what’s still at stake as lawmakers debate the 2026–27 state budget.

During the webinar, we’ll break down what adequacy funding is designed to do, highlight early signs of impact from districts across Pennsylvania, and share clear takeaways for families, educators, and community members who want to better understand what fair school funding looks like in practice.

We’ll also preview the real, on-the-ground outcomes districts are connecting to these investments, including expanded full-day kindergarten, smaller class sizes, stronger career and technical education opportunities, and increased student supports.

Register today; https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_S7u-xLeKQwGz_yAWYQUAIA?fbclid=IwY2xjawSFXtxleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFiNzdZVVk0dWNoZXJqQXJIc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHrnpJ1C6VsWhEjBEwxfqYjFCj1nL45D-o_rjIX47f8Hy3pgiTaVXUg6lG_da_aem_fAPMQfwZTnV0Kx1nsG0Meg&link_id=3&can_id=2ea6935cb86bf0a720b5d8ba9210181c&source=email-title-59&email_referrer=&email_subject=webinar-adequacy-in-action-new-report-on-impacts-of-k-12-adequacy-funding&& #/registration

Two Pennsylvania taxpayers walk into a bar, and they each order a hamburger. One person is from New Hope, and the other is from Coaldale.

Even though they both get the exact same meal, the bartender charges the guy from New Hope $27.33 and the patron from Coaldale $8.39.

If they choose a “Special Burger,” Mr. New Hope pays $51.65 and Coaldale pays $15.86, regardless of whether the additional topping is shaved black truffles or a slice of cheese.

If you multiply each of those numbers by 1,000, this is exactly how cyber charter tuition works for taxpayers funding Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts. There are 500 different regular education rates and 500 different special education rates.

Two Pennsylvania taxpayers walk into a bar... | Pennlive letters Cyber charter tuition is consistently highlighted as one of the major cost drivers in public education.

In our new series According to Their Records, we’re digging into what cyber charters’ own documents reveal.

When lawmakers enacted bipartisan cyber charter tuition reforms last fall, school districts saved $78 million. Cyber charters warned the sky was falling. So... is it?

This week, we looked at field trips approved by PA Cyber AFTER those reforms took effect:

✔️ $28,800 for a trip to Kalahari Resort (including 400 waterpark passes + meal vouchers)
✔️ $13,375 for Sight & Sound Theatre tickets
✔️ $6,188 for parties at five Urban Air locations
✔️ $5,088 for snow tubing at Seven Springs

That’s more than $50,000 in field trips in a single month.

Governor Shapiro’s proposed budget includes another $75 million in cyber charter savings to better align tuition payments with the actual cost of online education.

If cyber charters are claiming these adjustments are devastating, their own spending tells a different story.

Last chance to register! Join us on Thursday, May 21 to learn about Pennsyvlania's current $575 million/year school voucher program and what it could mean for Pennsylvania if our governor chooses to opt into Trump's federal voucher program.

More school vouchers for PA? · Education Voters of Pennsylvania Join us for an overview of Pennsylvania’s current $575 million private school voucher program and learn what opting into Trump’s federal voucher program could mean for the commonwealth. This session will focus on the lack of accountability and transparency for more than $3.5 billion spent on vou...