Mar 6, 2021 4 min read

Lenny McAllister, CEO of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools, recently stated that during the COVID-19 pandemic, cybercharter schools in Pennsylvania didn’t miss a beat.

And as board member for the Canon-McMillan School District and Intermediate Unit 1, I can say that I actually agree with that statement. Yes, cybercharter schools didn’t miss a beat, but that’s hardly worthy of celebration. In fact, this should have families across the commonwealth gravely concerned about the failing education these schools continue to deliver.

Cybercharter schools “not missing a beat” during the pandemic means that students continue to suffer from a track record of substandard education and low graduation rates. Sure, cybercharter schools can say that the pandemic has not impacted their ability to provide online education to students, but with skyrocketing enrollment in 2020, should it really be touted that more students than ever before are receiving a cybercharter education?

That’s not my opinion. This is based on the data and standards set in place by the new Future Ready PA Index, created and maintained by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) as a collection of school progress and accountability measures related to school and student success. So, if cybercharter schools want to compare their performance against that of Pennsylvania’s school districts, then let’s compare.

The two measures that factor heavily in students’ future educational success are third-grade English language arts proficiency and seventh-grade math proficiency. When comparing cybercharter schools to traditional school districts, we see that third-grade English language proficiency was 22.3% lower in cybercharter schools than traditional school districts, and seventh-grade math proficiency was 25.3% lower in cybercharter schools than traditional school districts.

But that should not be the greatest concern when nearly half of cybercharter students don’t even graduate on time! In the 2018-19 school year, only 54.6% of cybercharter students graduated in four years, compared to the 88.4% graduation rates produced by Pennsylvania’s school districts. Yet, I don’t think you’ll find this included in any cybercharter marketing materials and advertisements.

In the same article, McAllister made the point that Pennsylvania’s cybercharters have been teaching online for more than 20 years, backed by his opinion that this makes cybercharters more qualified to teach students virtually. This would be a compelling point if only the facts reflected this narrative. They don’t.

Every cybercharter school operating in Pennsylvania has been identified by the PDE as needing additional improvement under the Future Ready PA Index due to their low proficiency levels and graduation rates. But that’s nothing new. During the five years when the state issued School Performance Profile scores, none of Pennsylvania’s cyberschools ever earned a passing grade. How is it that cybercharter schools, which have consistently failed to produce satisfactory academic results each year, can look at the public school districts and dare say they’re doing a better job of educating our youth?

The common response from cybercharter schools can be found in that same article that states, “(Cybercharter schools) are innovative and groundbreaking, allowing them to be more efficient and responsive to students’ needs and parental concerns than local school districts.” That sounds very nice. Every type of school should strive to be as much. But unfortunately, these are just words when the data tells a different story.

Cybercharter schools have never been able to effectively accomplish the most important thing they were created to do 23 years ago – provide students with a quality education.

There’s nothing “innovative and groundbreaking” about luring in families who are desperately seeking virtual educational opportunities for their children amidst a pandemic, especially, when they are well aware of their own failing grades. So, when you hear from the cybercharter community that their performance has demonstrated success in 2020, keep this in mind. They’re talking about enrollment numbers and dollar signs, while conveniently overlooking the data that should be of highest importance to parents.

I urge every family in the commonwealth, regardless of what type of education you ultimately choose for your child, please do your research and look to the real data that speaks to the quality of education provided.

For many, the virtual education model is not ideal, and public school districts recognize this fact. We have been providing education that is superior to cybercharter long before this global pandemic, and will continue to build upon this success by staying focused on the quality of education we provide well into the future.

Joseph M. Zupancic is a member of the Canon-McMillan School and Intermediate Unit 1 boards.