Privatization Schemes Kill Local Public Schools
An example from Pennsylvania
School privatization schemes come in a variety of packages - vouchers, charter schools, cyber charter schools. The bottom line is the same: Transfer public money to unaccountable private operators. Results be damned.
An example out of Pennsylvania demonstrates the devastating impact such schemes have on local public schools:
The Wyoming Area School District is wedged in between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. It's not a particularly affluent district-- 80% white and 100% free and reduced lunch. And they are in financial trouble. The district has raised taxes three years in a row, and they will run a deficit this year., per reports from the Citizens' Voice and the Times Leader.
The source of their woes? Well, around almost $3 million in cyber charter costs sure aren't helping.
The district is among the vast number of Pennsylvania districts that has come out in favor of funding reform in the state. In Pennsylvania we still fund cyber charters by means laid out for bricks and mortar charters over twenty years ago. It's nonsensical, inconsistent, and highly profitable, which is probably why Pennsylvania is the cyber capital of the country.
