Cyber charter schools should detail expenses

A recently released independent report indicates that cyber charter schools - those which provide instruction to Pennsylvania students through on-line programs - comply with state laws and spend the same amount of money on students as do public schools.

That's fine. We have no complaints regarding the operation of charter schools - traditional or cyber. Parents should have an alternative to sending their children to public schools. And if cyber charter schools are operating within the guidelines of state laws, we support their existence.

However, because the tuition for students to gain their education via cyber charter schools comes directly from public school coffers, it is paramount that accountability for the expenditure of those funds be complete, down to the penny. That, apparently, isn't the case.

According to KPMG Consulting, which conducted the independent study of cyber charter schools on behalf of the state Education Department, cyber schools are lax on updating revenue, expenditure and enrollment projections.

Those criticisms are at the core of complaints by the state School Boards Association, which feels cyber schools don't need all the funds they are receiving from public schools in the form of tuition. Such a claim makes sense. While the cost of starting up a cyber school may be high, the program lacks the long-term costs - building maintenance and upkeep, utilities and personnel - that traditional public schools must bear.

According to the School Boards Association, public schools have spent $18 million to fund cyber schools this academic year. Any portion of that money that isn't actually needed to operate cyber schools should be returned to the public school districts, who in many cases are already taxing district residents to their limits.

It's likely that the School Boards Association would prefer that no money from public school coffers be diverted to fund cyber schools. One can hardly blame school directors for wanting to hold the line on their own district's expenses and burden to taxpayers. But cyber schools are a good idea because they provide a much-needed alternative to public school education, an environment where a new and often innovative learning environment is offered to students.

On the other side of the coin, operators of cyber schools should be compelled to provide the most detailed reports on their expenditures, including projected cost and enrollment figures, so local school boards and administrators can best prepare their own budgets and educational programs.