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The purpose of this letter is to inform Greater Nanticoke Area taxpayers that cyber school tuition is not free. Cyber schools cost taxpayers and each local school district a significant amount of money annually.
Across the state of Pennsylvania, cyber charter schools were paid an average of $800,000 annually from a local school district’s budget (standard deviation about $3,100,000). Such financial losses to traditional brick and mortar schools have hit the most economically disadvantaged districts the hardest during the pandemic. Public school district’s pay outside cyber charter schools for each student that attends. This is taxpayer money that leaves our neighborhood school, forcing the district to make tough decisions about programs, education, staffing and personnel cuts. This adversely impacts our students and community.
GNA currently has 170 students enrolled in outside cyber charter schools. The additional cost is unnecessary because GNA has its own Cyber Academy. The school district is paying up to 12 different outside cyber charter schools $2.5 million dollars per year, which is at the expense of the Greater Nanticoke Area taxpayers.
An article from “Brookings” by David Baker and Bryan Mann, published June 24, 2019, “reviewed a steady stream of recent, scientifically sound, national evaluations reveals that cyber charter students tend to score lower on year-end tests and also have lower growth in learning over time than regular public school students. The same is true in Pennsylvania, where there is even more evidence of knowledge loss (negative growth scores) from fourth to eighth grade in reading and math, literature, algebra and biology among many cyber charter students.”
Cyber charter schools do not have the overhead costs such as transportation, heating, lighting, food services, as well as building and ground costs that traditional brick and mortar public schools do.
However, they are still eligible to receive funding from each school district, as well as CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) funding.
Public schools provide the personal touch of direct instruction, guidance, athletics, mental health services, and social interaction that cyber schools do not.
This $2.5 million dollars is a Significant amount of Taxpayers money that should be used to educate our students, by our teachers and staff, at The Greater Nanticoke Area School District.
Educational Leadership Team
Greater Nanticoke Area School District