Pa. auditor general renews criticism of charter-school funding

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — State Auditor General Jack Wagner is stepping up his criticism of the way Pennsylvania finances charter and cyber-charter schools.

Wagner today released a report showing that Pennsylvania spent more on the publicly funded, privately run schools among the five states with the most students in those schools.

Charter and cyber-charters receive tax money based on what it would cost to educate students in their home school districts.

Wagner says taxpayers could save more than $300 a year by setting one rate for bricks-and-mortar charter schools and another for Internet-based cyber charters, and limiting those payments to the national average.

Ken Kilpatrick of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools says the group prefers a bill calling for a statewide study of the issue with a deadline of March 2013.