There is movement in the House of Representatives to move HB 618 to a vote of the full House potentially today or tomorrow. It continues to be our position that HB 618 includes many positive changes to the charter school law, with one financially devastating exception – a provision which allows districts to withhold 100% [...] More »
This editorial is not negative to the concept of charter schools, but rather addresses how particular schools were operated. The editor’s concerns reinforce our position that the best way to get strong charters is to have strong authorizers. June 18, 2013 Monroe County is zero for three when it comes to leadership at its charter [...] More »
When a second grader came to the Andrew Jackson School too agitated to eat breakfast on Friday, an aide alerted the school counselor, who engaged him in an art project in her office. When he was still overwrought at 11, a secretary called the boy’s family, and soon a monitor at the front door buzzed in an [...] More »
Robert Fayfich, the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools, congratulated the 2013 graduates of Achievement House Cyber Charter School with this commencement speech on June 15, 2013. Good morning students, faculty, administration, parents, and families of Achievement House Cyber Charter School. It is my pleasure and sincere honor to be with [...] More »
HARRISBURG — As business manager for the Mercer Area School District, Mike Stabile has spent the last several years budgeting around a myriad of factors. Among that list: a school board that won’t raise taxes, state level cuts and increased future costs for charter school students and pension payments — and the district is down nine [...] More »
Career Connections Charter School in Lawrenceville may remain open this fall despite the efforts of Pittsburgh Public Schools to close it. Propel Schools won’t open its Hazelwood school this fall despite its desire to do so. And a charter school proposed for Duquesne this fall is in jeopardy. All three have been awaiting word from [...] More »
Lawrence Jones, president of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools, said the city’s charters will be even worse off if the state doesn’t come through with more money. “If the budget gap’s not filled, we could be looking at a 12 percent cut,” Jones said. “There are several small, independent charters that may not [...] More »
The “Schooling in America Survey” is a national project, commissioned by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice . Click here to review the findings More »
Gov. Tom Corbett on Thursday signed into law House Bill 2 to create a panel to examine special education funding for school districts. Funding for school special education programs is based on an estimate that the average daily enrollment of each school district includes 16 percent of students with special education needs. The law aims [...] More »
The Charter Schools Program (CSP) at the U.S. Department of Education is seeking peer reviewers (field readers) to read and evaluate discretionary grant applications submitted under the program’s discretionary grant competitions. Serving as a peer reviewer is an excellent opportunity to contribute to our nation’s education reform efforts by ensuring the effective allocation of federal [...] More »
The Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools, the Black Alliance for Educational Options, StudentsFirst, Students First PA, and PennCAN are extremely disappointed with today’s announcement by House Majority Leader Mike Turzai of the proposed legislation that will cripple the education of the 34,000 children who choose cyber charter schools. More »
77 Charter Schools in Pennsylvania made AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) in 2012. The Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools congratulates these outstanding public charter schools: 21st Century Cyber Charter School Ad Prima Charter School Alliance For Progress Charter School Antonia Pantoja Community Charter School Avon Grove Charter School Bear Creek Community Charter School Beaver Area [...] More »
Major Events of 2012 May 22 | 6th Annual Charter School Day on the Hill Over one hundred charter school students, teachers, parents, and advocates from across the state met in Harrisburg despite the threat of rain and lightning. Various legislators along with Lieutenant Governor Jim Cawley addressed the crowd and pledged their support for charter [...] More »
Despite the threat of rain and lightning again this year, the 2012 Annual Charter School Day On The Hill brought charter school students, teachers, parents and advocates from around the state to the step of Pennsylvania’s capital to remind legislators that we love our schools and expect them to support their continued success. The following [...] More »
The following letter from the Executive Director of the PCPCS was published in the Pittsburgh Tribune on April 24, 2012: I find the initiatives and perceptions of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and the district representatives quoted in Eleanor Chute’s article (“School Boards Group Offers Aid to Charters,” April 16) ironic, misinformed and unfortunate for [...] More »
PDE will be conducting an informational webinar from 10:30 a.m. until noon on April 26, 2012. The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) invites all school districts, charter schools, intermediate units, and career and technical centers to join us in Phase III of the continued development and implementation of a new teacher evaluation system in the 2012-13 [...] More »
The U.S. Department of Education is seeking volunteer reviewers to read and evaluate grant applications submitted under their discretionary Charter Schools Program grant competitions. These grants are designated to assist in the planning, program design, and initial implementation of public charter schools as well as the dissemination of information about and best practices in charter [...] More »
The Philadelphia Great Schools Compact unites the mayor, school district and charter school leaders in a bold, collaborative plan to focus on replicating and sustaining the most successful school models, regardless of their governance structure. The Compact was approved by the School Reform Commission last month and has been signed by the Mayor, SRC Chairman Pedro [...] More »
Mechanicsburg, PA – Five more exemplary Middle Grades Schools in Pennsylvania have been named PA Don Eichhorn Schools: “Schools to Watch” (PA STW) as part of a recognition program developed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform. In partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the Pennsylvania Middle School Association, Duquesne University, Edinboro University, [...] More »
Pennsylvania’s charter school law fell four spots to number 16, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools’ (NAPCS) annual ranking of state charter school laws. Maine’s law ranked first, and Mississippi’s charter school law remains last. In its third year, Measuring Up to the Model: A Ranking of State Public Charter School Laws [...] More »