BILL TO PREVENT WASTEFUL OVERPAYMENTS TO VIRTUAL SCHOOLS SUPPORTED BY EDUCATORS
Currently virtual for-profit schools get some dollars as bricks and mortar public schools
AUGUSTA – A bill that would prevent the overpayment of taxpayer dollars to fund virtual schools received strong support among educators today at a public hearing in the state’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee.
The bill, LD 306, “Resolve, to Prevent Overpayment for Virtual Education,” directs the Maine Department of Education to design an alternative to the Essential Programs and Services (EPS) funding model that would reflect the true costs for virtual charter educational services that do not share the same costs associated with a bricks and mortar schools.
Sen. Chris Johnson of Somerville
“Under the current system, virtual schools are getting paid for things that they do not offer. While paying for something that is not provided could be considered fraud, it is, at the very least, wasteful,” said Democratic Senator Chris Johnson of Somerville, the bill’s sponsor. “With so many public schools remaining underfunded, we would not be fulfilling our responsibility to taxpayers or our community if we continued to perpetuate this waste.”
The current EPS formula provides the same funding structure for virtual charter schools as it does for public brick and mortar schools. However, virtual schools do not operate with the same needs as brick and mortar schools such as librarians, nurses, education techs, extra-curricular student activities, supplies and equipment. They also operate as for-profit organizations, unlike public schools and private non-profit schools.
“Taxpayers should not be paying for facilities and services than are not actually provided,” added Senator Johnson. “Nor should any entity make huge profits on the back of public education, funded by Maine taxpayers through the use of inappropriate funding models.”
Senator Johnson cited the Maine Connections Academy (MCA) as an example of a virtual school model that does not operate with the same student to teacher ratio as outlined in the EPS formula. MCA has 280 students with the full and part time equivalent of between 8 and 9 teachers, no ed-techs, 1 head of school and 1 administrative staff. While the EPS formula outlines a 15:1 student: teacher ratio for grades 9-12 and 16:1 for grades 6-8, MCA has a student-teacher ratio of 34:1.
In her testimony before the committee, Lois Kilby Chelsey, the President of Maine Education Association said, “Community schools strive for lower student to teacher ratio in their classrooms for quality education while corporate-owned schools often count high class sizes as beneficial to their bottom line.”
The Maine Principals Association, Maine Education Association, and Maine School Management Association all testified in support of the measure.
“Why should we squander taxpayer dollars in overpayments that pad the profits of virtual academy service providers,” asked Senator Johnson. “The time has come to fix this. It’s the responsible thing to do.”
A committee work session on the bill is scheduled for Wednesday, April 15, 2015 at 9 a.m.
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