No parent in Pennsylvania should be denied their right to decide which public K-12 educational option is best for their child. Public school choice, in the form of brick-and-mortar charter schools and cyber charter schools, has been afforded to Pennsylvania families for nearly 30 years. Hundreds of thousands of students, in particular students who have traditionally been underserved and marginalized by the public education system, have benefited over the years. All that changed last year.

As part of Act 47 of 2025, a subset of students in Pennsylvania are now being prevented from enrolling in a public cyber charter school unless a judge allows it - - taking the decision-making authority from parents and putting it in the hands of bureaucrats. The government does not know what is best for children…their parents do!

Currently, the law prevents students who are struggling with attendance and have been identified as habitually truant from enrolling in a public cyber charter school unless they receive approval from a judge. While the intent of the changes in Act 47 may have been good, in practice this new law does nothing to address the root causes of truancy and school avoidance. Instead, it traps struggling students in educational environments that are causing physical or emotional harm and eliminates public school choice for economically disadvantaged families, whose only alternative to their assigned school district may be a public cyber charter school.

Furthermore, there is no evidence to show that forcing a student to stay in an educational environment, which they are trying to avoid (hence the unexcused absences and subsequent truancy status), will improve any outcomes for that student. If anything, the short- and long-term effects of Act 47 will be that more students who are struggling with attendance will drop out because they do not have another school option.

In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation that will address the inequities, logistical issues, and legal conflicts, created by Act 47 of 2025, for Pennsylvania families seeking to enroll their children in a public cyber charter school. This legislation will create alignment between school districts and public cyber charter schools regarding required attendance policies and student attendance tracking. In addition, this legislation will ensure parents are aware of their child’s struggles with attendance and provide families with resources to assist in reducing their child’s chronic absenteeism.

Please join me in co-sponsoring this legislation to put the power back in the hands of parents when it comes to making decisions about how and where their children are educated.