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 »
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 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 results are in: The majority of PA residents support public school choice. The Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools in partnership with Susquehanna Polling and Research recently conducted a statewide survey to determine how taxpayers view charter and cyber charter schools. The survey results indicate that residents across the Commonwealth recognize the value of [...] More »
The following is a transcript of the testimony of Lawrence F. Jones, President of the Pennsylvania Coalition for Public Charter Schools, given to the the PA House Education Committee in Philadelphia on Thursday July 28th. Good afternoon Chairman Clymer, Chairman Roebuck, members of the Education Committee, members of the legislature, and audience members. My name is Lawrence F. [...] More »
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