WHEREAS, Charter Schools are independently operated public schools that are funded with federal, state and local tax dollars; and
WHEREAS, The legislative intent of Charter Schools are to improve pupil learning, increase learning opportunities for all pupils, encourage the use of different and innovative teaching methods, and create new professional opportunities for teachers, provide parents and pupils with expanded choices in the types of educational opportunities that are available within the public school system; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia is currently home to eighty-six (86) brick-and-mortar Charter Schools along with four (4) Cyber Charter Schools which together educate approximately sixty-thousand seven-hundred and seventy-four students (60,774) or thirty-one percent (31%) of all students in the School District of Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, Of Pennsylvania's one-hundred and seventy-six (176) Charter Schools, Philadelphia is home to ninety (90); 51.13% of all Charter Schools throughout the Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, During the fiscal year 2015 budget hearings, it was pointed out that Charter Schools have the ability to re-classify students as special-education regardless of whether the student was previously classified as such by the School District; and
WHEREAS, In May 2014, Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale released a report titled
Pennsylvania Charter School Accountability and Transparency: Time for a Tune-Up
which analyzed the current state of Charter Schools throughout Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, Within his report, Auditor General DePasquale concluded that The funding formula for Charter Schools' basic education tuition rates and special education tuition rates charged to school districts are seriously flawed; and
WHEREAS, For fiscal year 2015, the School District of Philadelphia is anticipated to increase its mandatory Charter School payments by an additional thirty- million dollars ($30,000,000); now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That the Committee on Education is hereby authorized to hold public hearings to examine the status, growth, achievement, and policies of Charter Schools throughout the City of Philadelphia.
End