Under Pennsylvania law, a student is considered truant after three unexcused absences and habitually truant after six unexcused absences in the current school year. However, truancy determinations are largely discretionary and vary by school, which allows inconsistent and sometimes arbitrary enforcement. Because public schools have a strong financial incentive to maintain enrollment and funding, this discretion can lead to overly broad or selective classifications of truancy.

Act 47 of 2025 compounds this issue by prohibiting students labeled as “habitually truant” from enrolling in a public cyber charter school without judicial approval. This shifts decision-making authority away from parents and places it in the hands of bureaucrats.

While the intent behind Act 47 was a well-meaning attempt to address chronic absenteeism, it fails to tackle the root causes of truancy. Instead, it traps struggling students in school environments they are actively avoiding and removes meaningful school choice—particularly for low-income families who rely on public cyber charters as their most viable alternative.  There is no credible evidence that forcing student attendance at a disliked school will improve outcomes. On the contrary, this policy risks increasing dropout rates among at-risk students by eliminating access to more flexible educational options better suited to their needs.

To correct the inequities and unintended consequences created by Act 47 of 2025, I will soon introduce legislation that removes the judicial barrier for cyber charter enrollment, aligns attendance policies and tracking between traditional districts and cyber charters, ensures parents receive timely notice of attendance issues, and provides families with practical resources to reduce chronic absenteeism.

No parent in Pennsylvania should be denied the right to choose the public K-12 educational setting that best serves their child. I respectfully request that you join me as a co-sponsor of this important legislation.