On February 15th 2012, PCPCS President, Lawrence Jones, testified before the PA Senate Education Committee against House Bill 1973, a bill that would severely defund Cyber Charter Schools in Pennsylvania. In his testimony he emphasized that “charter schools, both brick and mortar and cyber, have brought competition, innovation and quality choice options to the system [...] 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 »
Rock Center Special Correspondent Chelsea Clinton visits Central Falls, R.I., where a public school and charter school have formed a unique partnership to better serve their students. Rather than compete with one another, a group of public school teachers are working with teachers from The Learning Community charter school to devise programs that have already raised [...] More »
The Internal Revenue Service recently issued a Proposed Regulation titled “Determination of Government Plan Status.” This regulation would force states to prohibit charter school teachers from participating in state retirement plans. Presently, every single state that authorizes charter schools either requires or permits charter school participation in the state’s retirement system. Therefore, this regulation would [...] More »
The following is a published letter to the Pittsburgh Tribune from the PCPCS Executive Director, Bob Fayfich, on the common Misconceptions of Charter Schools in Pennsylvania. 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 »
Joined by Philadelphia education, business and philanthropic leaders, Mayor Michael A. Nutter announced today that he and other education leaders have signed a historic agreement to increase the number of high-performing schools in the City. The Philadelphia Great Schools Compact unites the mayor, school district and charter school leaders in a bold, collaborative plan to focus [...] More »
The number of ELL students throughout the United States is increasing yearly and it is the responsibility of our schools to educate these students. 2.9% of the student population of Pennsylvania is ELLs. This increases greatly in the urban areas. Charter schools continue to enroll very few ELLs which have caused many to question the [...] More »
After 14 years of operation and experience in Pennsylvania and from educators in 39 other states, we know what makes for high-performing charter schools – dedicated teachers, involved parents, individualized attention, exceptional curriculums, enlightened leadership, and strong authorizers. None of this is surprising, and with the exception of the strong authorizer, every one is identical [...] More »
The December 2 issue of the Morning Call contained an article on a “report” announced to have been released on November 25 in which 26 school superintendents from Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton and Pike counties blasted charter schools. We have read the original document, the press release, and the story and have found there are [...] More »
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