Pennsylvania’s largest cyber-charter school spent nearly $ 600,000 among car dealerships and car washing in one year, and $ 400,000 in entertainment expenses, according to a new report by a advocacy group in public education.
These are only a few of the expenses that the defenders pointed out as an “abusive use of taxes” after having examined the check registers of the Charter of the Commonwealth, obtained through right-wing requests for cyber school . The PA Education Report, which examined the check registers from July 2022 to June 2023, also found that the Charter had paid $ 116,000 in catering costs, especially in bars and vineyards.
And many other expenses lacked an explanation or have gone to expurgated sellers, said the group. For example, the Charter spent $ 400,000 in various stores for unidentified purchase costs and has given more than a million dollars to charter families, in coded payments as “family mentor” or “student / guardian” .
“Each dollar that CCA spends on doordash or luxury vehicles, or in pubs or vineyards or exclusive clubs, is a dollar that has been paid by a Pennsylvania taxpayer,” said education voters in the report.
These dollars, according to the group, could rather be used by public school districts to “reduce the size of the classes, hire aid or pay special education services.” They could be used to repair the leaks, mitigating asbestos or installing HVAC systems. »»
The group also reported $ 8.8 million spent on “advertising and promotion”, but said it would share more details on these expenses in a future report.
An ACC spokesperson Timothy Eller did not comment on the specific conclusions of the report, but said in a statement on Monday that “each dollar that CCA receives is used for the benefit of all registered students”.
“The wearing and isolated expenses put with regard to emergency voters for school travel costs are well in what is customary for organizations of similar size which have an imprint on the scale of The state, “said Eller, noting that Commonwealth Charter Academy has a budget of $ 500 million and employs 2,400 employees.
Accusing the voters of the education of “unfounded accusations and defamatory declarations”, she said: “It is important to know that voters of the AP in no case represent the voters of Pennsylvania who massively support the school choice. “
Susan Spicka, executive director of education voters, said her “tax sponsor” is Keystone Research Center, a Harrisburg’s reflection group on the left. However, voters of education obtain funding for distinct sources, “mainly foundations,” said Spicka.
Controversy on cyber-charters
Pennsylvania cyber-Charters have long been targeted by defenders of public education, who see them as a drain on school district budgets. School districts pay for cyber-Charters tuition fees for each student they register, at the same prices as the brick and mortar charters receive. The prices are linked to what school districts spend, so they vary considerably through the state.
Commonwealth Charter Academy, which has scored more than 23,000 students in 2023-24, has increased rapidly in recent years. (In her statement on Monday, Eller said that school was now 33,000.) While Pennsylvania continues to fight To adequately finance its traditional public schoolsCritics target the growing assets of the CCA, in particular Properties The Charter bought on a state scale.
Critics also say It works with little transparency: Although school councils generally display online meeting agendas with details on spending actions, ACCA’s board of directors lack details on the expenses offered. To obtain information on which the charter board of directors will vote, citizens must request it directly.
“If a school district paid for membership of an exclusive Harrisburg club, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash payments to families or bought a luxury vehicle, community members in this school district would know because There would be a public vote on these expenses at their meeting of the local school board, “said education voters in the report.
And the information provided by the Charter does not necessarily reveal how it spends money, the group said, given the number of payments made to the dial entities.
On which CCA spent money
In her report, Education Voters PA classified the expenses she examined in the following buckets:
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Cars: 51 payments to car dealerships and car washing totaling $ 584,005, without any information on expenses. (In a request for separate files, the group learned that in 2024, CCA bought an Ford Explorer of $ 58,832, and three Ford exhausts which cost $ 40,257 each, according to the invoices obtained by the voters of education .)
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Dinner: payments totaling $ 116,486, including $ 2,739.70 in Doordash and $ 5,504 in Mazza Vineyards.
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Entertainment: 193 payments totaling $ 404,717, including Hersheypark, Top Golf Pittsburgh and Dave & Buster’s. The charter paid $ 4,000 at the Hill Society, a social club reserved for members, which lists the CCA as a company sponsor.
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Advertising and promotion: $ 8.8 million.
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Families: 1,078 payments totaling $ 744,924 coded for “family mentors”, ranging from $ 200 to $ 3,750 each. The report revealed that most payments were $ 550, from September 2022, an amount which doubled in November 2022 and May 2023. There were also 1,559 payments totaling $ 330,830 coded by CCA as “student” Guardian ”, with amounts ranging from $ 30 to $ 7,425 each.
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Hotels: 141 payments totaling $ 205,056, without any information on stays.
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Lobbying: $ 254,870 at Charter Choices, McNes Strategic Solutions Group and Greenlee Partners.
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Shopping: 276 payments totaling $ 406,205 in stores, including Amazon, Target, Petsmart and Party City, without description of payments.
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Staff: 766 payments totaling $ 749,170, without personnel name. Payment was $ 94,500. Payments were distinct from wages, according to information obtained by education voters.
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Gas: 161 payments totaling $ 33,737 at service stations.
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No category: 92 payments totaling $ 56,000 has been fully expared, without any information provided by CCA on what has been purchased or was paid.
Call for responsibility
The report calls on the State to open a medical-legal audit of the ACC and other schools to cyber-charter “to determine whether their expenses and their reports have complied with the law of the state”.
“Given the number of editors, it is really important that someone outside will look good at the expense,” said Susan Spicka, director of education voters, during a press conference Monday.
Eller said that the CCA is subject to “independent annual audits of renowned experienced companies, which have had no negative conclusion and no indication of irrerestities.” The charter deposits audits with the state each year, he said.
The report also requires the promulgation of a tuition rate at $ 9,500 from school districts to cyber-charts; Currently, regular tuition fees vary from $ 7,659 to $ 28,959 per student, according to the student’s sending district.
The State Department of Education should also hire personnel to work specifically on the evaluation of cyber charges whose operating agreements with the State have expired, while the legislator should adopt a moratorium on Opening of new cyber-charters Until all existing charters have current agreements, according to education voters.