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By Matt Hess
Pennsylvania Legislative Services
September 28, 2011

The Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools held a press conference this afternoon to urge lawmakers to vote for education reform bills that they said would provide additional accountability and transparency measures to charter schools.

Lawrence Jones, President of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools, said the reform measures are “long overdue” and emphasized “we are here to talk about choice in education, to support high quality, but more specifically to support children.”

Jenny Bradmon, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Families for Public Cyber Schools, said the legislation would bring “extra layers of accountability for our schools” and urged lawmakers “to treat our charter school students the same as you treat any other students.”

Secretary of the Department of Education Ron Tomalis said the governor is in support of the reforms and spoke in favor of charter schools. “We are no longer in a time of experimentation. We are in a time that this is part of the foundation of choices, part of the foundation of public education,” he stated. “We need to act quickly to provide more opportunities for students across Pennsylvania. We are looking for a bill that will strengthen reauthorization. A single, statewide authorizer that can provide the oversight and quality assurance is an important part. We also need additional transparency and accountability.”

Sen. Jeff Piccola (R-Dauphin), Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, spoke in favor of the reform measures and called on the legislature to act.

“I’m tired of rallies, the time for rallies is over,” he stated. “It’s the time for action. It’s time for leadership. The time for rallies is gone. The time for action is here. We need choice in education and we need it as soon as possible.”

Sen. Andy Dinniman (D-Chester), Minority Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, emphasized that financial transparency and academic accountability is crucial to the success of education choice in

Pennsylvania. “Don’t walk away from critics, don’t hide anything,” he stated. “Come forward to make your case because you can compete with any school in this commonwealth with academic accountability.”

Rep. Tony Payton (D-Philadelphia) said there are tens of thousands waiting to get into charter schools and encouraged passage of the bills. “The time for action is now,” he stated. “The new language includes the strongest accountability measures we’ve seen in some time and that’s something we should all embrace. We should also embrace choice. Many parents have already chosen but many have been locked out by school districts. Allowing for a statewide authorizer is something that is necessary.”

“This is not a party issue and we are working in a bipartisan basis because it is about our children and our future,” Rep. Thomas Killion (R-Delaware) stated. “Let’s get ‘er done.”

Sen. Anthony Williams (D-Philadelphia) took issue with critics of charter schools. “We are in the middle of the ring, we got up off the floor, we cleaned ourselves off and you required us to get in better shape so offered a bill that will become law,” he stated. “The time of rallies, the time of arguments, the time of bleeding is over. The time for getting it on is here.

Stop hiding in the corners. Stop trying to scare legislators. Stop talking about what reformers look like: we’re black, white, urban, rural suburban.

All of us are on it because guess what is most important to us: Pennsylvania’s children.” He added “those in special interests expecting a paycheck: I’m sorry to step on your toes because we are getting ready to step on your back.”