Charter Schools Could Soon Face Greater Scrutiny

With little reassurance that it’s revenue will be going up any time soon, the Bethlehem Area School District may be looking at future charter school renewals with increasing scrutiny.

On Monday night, the school board, meeting as the Human Resources Committee, moved forward the renewal of the Lehigh Valley Academy Charter School for a full board vote later this month.

However, the committee discussion came with some commentary about how charter schools are an ever-increasing drain on district resources as state education subsidies appear to be heading no place but down.

“Why are we paying more per student at the Lehigh Valley Academy than we do at our own schools?” asked school Director Loretta Leeson.

In Gov. Corbett’s proposed budget, state subsidies for charter schools have disappeared, leaving host school districts with an even higher bill, which amounts to “another additional tax on our school system,” Leeson said. Bethlehem Area will now have to pay at least 23 percent of the charter school costs that used to be funded by the state, Leeson said.

“What we are required to pay is based on an unfair assessment,” Leeson said.

“This is very troubling,” agreed School Board President Michelle Cann.

At the same time, the district continues to pay the costs for these students when they want to participate in school district extra curricular activities and sports, Leeson said.

“We should be allowed to fund them at our cost,” said Leeson. She added that several of the charter schools inside the district are underperforming, as compared to the district, in statewide assessment scores.

However, the Lehigh Valley Academy, located in Hanover Township, Northampton County, is not one of them. Assistant Superintendent and Chief Academic Officer Jack P. Silva said he had no reason not to recommend offering the Lehigh Valley Academy a charter renewal.

However, Superintendent Joseph J. Roy said he and other superintendents in the region are in the process of preparing a “white paper” on charter schools that are underperforming academically.

Leeson said she believes that the best hope school boards have is to work together at convincing local legislators that state laws governing charter schools need to be changed.