As Charter School Bond Sales Rise, Pennsylvania Fight Shows Risk
- Governor sought charter school cuts in distressed district
- Charter debt sales hit record in 2014 as buyers sought yield
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At Chester Upland School District, one of Pennsylvania’s poorest, the receiver appointed by Governor Tom Wolf to oversee its finances moved to cut $25 million from the charter schools that teach more than half of its 7,200 students outside of Philadelphia.
The effort was blocked by a judge last month, giving a reprieve to the privately-run schools -- and the bondholders repaid with taxpayer funds. "Those schools would have been forced to close,” said Bob Fayfich, executive director of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools.