Letter to the Editor, July 31, 2010

Published: July 31, 2010

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'Cyber-less'

EDITOR: As school districts across the region struggled in May and June to pass their annual budgets, they contemplated numerous program cuts and wrestled with the decision to raise taxes. In Towanda, for example, in addition to a small tax increase, the board ended up dismantling the drivers' education program, eliminating teaching and maintenance positions and cutting junior high basketball, among other things.

At the same time, information distributed by Athens Area School District superintendent Doug Ulkins was circulating regarding the cost to local school districts of 11 cyber schools. Included in the chart was the status of each cyber school with regard to student performance as measured by standardized tests (PSSA's), grades, graduation rates and "attendance."

I don't think most tax payers realize how much cyber schools cost us and that 10 out of 11 cyber schools are failing to meet the standards our public schools are held accountable to.

In Bradford County, in 2009-10, our local districts had to spend over 2 million dollars for students "attending" cyber schools - at an average cost of over $9,000 per year, per student! Sullivan County spent over $400,000 at an average cost per student of $14,068!

Of the 11 cyber schools in which local students enrolled, only one school made "Adequate Yearly Progress" (AYP). The other 10 had not met that standard for the past year, and some failed for as many as 4 years running! Any public school with that kind of record would have been taken over by the state or federal government by now! In 2008-09, only 5.2 percent of public schools in Pennsylvania were "failing" while almost 40 percent of cyber schools were failures.

I really don't know how our legislature can justify requiring that the tax dollars we pay to our school district go to pay for students who choose failing cyber schools. But they do. They also require our public school districts to pay for transportation of students to private schools like North Rome, Epiphany and St. Agnes, at the convenience of those schools, regardless of impact to our public school schedules.

I am asking that all citizens who are concerned about education, and all who pay taxes, raise a stink about this issue because, frankly, it is wrong and it is costing all of us, literally, millions!

Ruth B. Tonachel

Towanda

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