CALL TO ACTION –   Act now to push for necessary change to the Charter Appeals Board (CAB)!

Act now to push for necessary change to the Charter Appeals Board (CAB)!

As BASD Proud Parents recently posted, of the Pennsylvania Charter Appeals Board’s 5 active members…

• ALL are serving long past the end-date of their initial term, and

• NONE are directly affiliated with or bringing the perspective of traditional public schools to CAB deliberations

In their own Op Ed just published in The Morning Call (https://www.mcall.com/opinion/mc-opi-charter-schools-pennsylvania-house-bills-20190602-3ewecuqqizej5hrgotdyjk4o4a-story.html), Superintendents Thomas Parker (Allentown) and Joseph Roy (Bethlehem) stressed that our public school districts “need better tools to hold charter school operators accountable to families and taxpayers.”

It is long past time for Governor Wolf and Secretary of Education Pedro A. Rivera to nominate new members to this board and long past time for the Pennsylvania State Senate (currently comprised of 29 Republicans and 21 Democrats) to support a more balanced board on behalf of the Commonwealth’s public school students and families, and taxpayers.

Here’s what you can do about it:

1. Sign a petition being circulated by Public Citizens for Children and Youth (http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/51084/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=22342&_ga=2.162891071.286422122.1559094109-1784163344.1559094109)

2. Fill out a Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) comment form https://appengine.egov.com/apps/pa/education/educationcontactusform.  Feel free to write your own comments or simply cut and paste the message below.

As the parent of a student in the Bethlehem Area School District, I am appalled at the current state of the Charter Appeals Board (CAB). According to PDE’s own website, all 5 members are serving long past the end-date of their term, and none are directly affiliated with or bringing the perspective of traditional public schools to CAB deliberations. (Three of the 5 have direct ties to charter schools and the one filling CAB’s “school board member” position has been voted off his local school board.) I look forward to hearing your plans to appoint new members to these positions and to suspend CAB activity until these new members are seated.

Thank you!!
Also, please follow us on Twitter @basdproudparent

BASD Proud Parents is a group of pro-public education parents who’ve come together to educate and empower ourselves so that we can effectively participate in policy discussions that shape our schools.  We follow legislation that is currently being debated in Harrisburg; we meet with our legislators to build relationships and ensure that parents’ voices are effectively heard in policy discussions; we help shine a light on the innumerable ways our schools are working for our children and our communities.