Report: Commonwealth Charter Academy’s Frivolous Spending Reminds Taxpayers Why We Need Cyber Charter Reform in Harrisburg

From Bucks County Beacon

A new report released Monday has uncovered even more questionable spending of taxpayer dollars by Pennsylvania’s leading cyber school.

The Education Voters of Pennsylvania report “Our Taxes, Their Slush Fund” shows that Commonwealth Charter Academy has spent millions of taxpayer dollars for dining out, car dealerships, entertainment venues, and at least one exclusive private club where members are invited to, “Celebrate the good stuff. Wine. Food. Whiskey. Getaways and special events.”

What the new report found

Ed Voters of PA submitted a Right To Know request for CCA’s check register from the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years. What they found was some highly questionable use of taxpayer money.

“Family mentors” and “Student/caretaker”

CCA made over 2,500 payments to these two categories. The amounts were anywhere from $30 up to $7,425. This appears to be money that goes directly to the families, but that may never actually be clarified. Ed Voters filed a Right To Know request asking for documentation or contracts showing the work the redacted recipients of these payments were hired to do, and CCA replied that they do not have “any records in its possession, custody, or control that are responsive to your request as submitted.” That would seem to suggest that there are no contracts or agreements and that these payments were not made as compensation for some specific work.

Staff

766 payments were made to “staff” for a total of $749,170. There is no indication which staff were being paid.

That omission of information may seem like a picky detail, but right now you can look up the salaries of any Pennsylvania public employee whose salary is funded by taxpayers, including local teachers. A taxpayer is entitled to see their local district’s teacher contract. Taxpayers are entitled to see where those dollars went — unless they went to CCA.

Dining and Entertainment

CCA spent $114,486 for dining out at dozens of restaurants, including Chick-fil-A, Texas Roadhouse, Franco’s Lounge, TGI Friday’s, Duke’s Riverside Bar, and Dockside Willie’s. Payments also included $2,739.70 to DoorDash and $5,504 to Mazza Vineyards.

CCA made 193 payments for entertainment and recreation, adding up to $404,717. Those included checks to Hersheypark, Top Golf Pittsburgh, Dave & Busters, Urban Air Trampolines, the Camelback Lodge and the Green Ridge Club. CCA also paid $4,000 to the Hill Society, the “celebrate the good stuff” club where “member benefits start at our valet stand.” CCA is listed on their website as a platinum corporate partner.

Vehicles

CCA has spent over half a million dollars on vehicles. CCA has not yet fulfilled a Right To Know request for invoices beyond four that note one new Agate Black Ford Explorer 4 x 4 and three new Ford Escapes. Ed Voters does not know who drives the vehicles or what purpose they serve. CCA also paid $33,737 to gas stations throughout the commonwealth.

Hotel stays

CCA made 141 payments totaling over $200K for hotel stays. Were these for staff, families, executives, or students? We don’t know.

Lobbying

CCA spent a quarter of a million dollars on lobbying services from at least three different companies.

Marketing

Ed Voters has shown in the past that CCA spends an extraordinary amount of money on marketing, paying for everything from an “ice level lounge” at a hockey stadium to floats in a parade. This batch of checks show CCA spending $8.8 million in advertising and promotion.

As always, the Beacon has let me go deep on this. Read the full article here.