June 10, 2021

The Honorable Scott Martin

Pennsylvania Senate
351 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120

Dear Sen. Martin:

We, the undersigned public education leaders in Lancaster County, wanted to share our collective disappointment and
opposition to Senate Bill 1 as recently introduced. We pride ourselves in Lancaster County as putting aside partisan
political beliefs to solve problems together. We have seen that spirit with the approach to various educational issues
including the development of a fair funding formula and more recently with the historic efforts around the pandemic. That
is why we are perplexed by the advancement of SB 1 – legislation that all of us recognize has no chance of achieving the
governor’s signature in its current form.

The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania states that the General Assembly “shall provide for the
maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education” for our students. It is generally
recognized by most leaders regardless of party, as well as educational funding experts, that Pennsylvania’s funding of
public schools is inherently unfair. Senate Bill 1 does nothing to ensure a more thorough and efficient system for all
schools.

We know you as someone who seeks solutions and advances balanced public policy that accounts for multiple
perspectives. However, SB 1 fails to provide that balance in a number of critical ways, particularly as it relates to charter
school “reform.” While the bill includes some charter accountability provisions, we are fascinated that a number of logical
charter accountability and transparency provisions were not included in the bill, despite the fact that they were included in
HB 97 – legislation you supported on July 9, 2017. Those provisions include:

• Boards of Trustees filing statements of financial interests with local school boards and the department.
• Conflict of interest protections related to charter administrators and boards of trustees for the awarding of
contracts.
• An organizational chart describing the school governance structure, including the lines of authority and reporting
between a board of trustees, administrators, staff and any educational management service provider that will
provide management services to charter school entities.
• Evidence on education management service provider’s record and history of serving certain student populations
and any draft contract with an education management service provider.
• Authority for a charter authorizer (namely a school board) to have access to all charter records, including financial
reports, financial audits, teacher certification and personnel records and aggregate standardized test scores.

Of all the items above, it concerns us that conflict of interest language was not included in charter accountability
legislation.

What is actually in the bill is equally troubling. The creation of a statewide charter school authorizer through the Public
Charter School Commission and an annual escalator of 25 percent for the EITC/OSTC programs are hard to reconcile
with the fact that public school are forced to accept two or three percent annual basic education funding increases, all the
while our mandated costs, particularly charter and special education, continue to drive property tax increases.
Pennsylvania has not achieved significant equity or adequacy in state funding despite finally adopting a bipartisan funding
formula.

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We understand that people have different philosophical beliefs around education – particularly public education. While
we are disappointed that this first major education bill in the Senate does not, in our opinion, balance the needs of
Pennsylvania’s public schools, we would welcome the opportunity to meet with you and discuss our concerns in greater
detail in order to work together for the interest of all students in the Commonwealth.

Sincerely,

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Matthew Behney & Matthew Landis Anthony Jannotta, Rich Miller
Co-Presidents President-Elect President
Cocalico Education Association Hempfield Education Association Solanco Education Association

Arlene Gibble Kristen Maser Lisa Hochreiter

President Co-President President
Columbia Education Association Lampeter-Strasburg Education Warwick Education Association
Association

Tara Flick Melissa Passaro

President President
Conestoga Valley Education Manheim Central Education
Association Association

Justin Neideigh & Donald Seibert Samantha McNally

Co-Presidents President
Donegal Education Association Manheim Township Education
Association

Jeffrey Martin Mary Kay Fair

President President
Eastern Lancaster County Education Penn Manor Education
Association Association

Jeremy Troop Abbie Houck

President President
Elizabethtown Area Education Pequea Valley Education
Association Association

Michael Jennings & Joshua Shortuse Jason Molloy

Co-Presidents President
Ephrata Area Education Association Lancaster Education Association