Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, there has been a huge increase in cyber charter school enrollment across the country, including in Pennsylvania, where cyber charter school enrollment is up 63% to 62,000 students as of Oct. 1.

This trend should have Pennsylvania parents and taxpayers extremely concerned for two glaring reasons.

First is the financial implications this enrollment increase will have on school districts. To put this impact into numbers, school districts can collectively expect as much as a $350 million increase in their cyber charter tuition bills this year alone, due to the pandemic-generated cyber charter school enrollment increases.

It’s important to keep in mind that this massive sum is only part of the overall $475 million charter school tuition increase this school year that school districts are facing, in addition to navigating through a global pandemic. At Otto-Eldred, our charter school costs this year are $304,000.

The $475 million increase in charter school tuition this school year effectively nullifies the majority of the federal funds public schools received under the federal CARES Act. This means most of those funds will not have their intended impact — to aid our public schools in a time of crisis.

Moreover, for many districts, their Act 1 index rate will not allow for them to increase property taxes to cover the gap in increased charter school payments, leaving hopelessly unbalanced budgets.

But the financial implications to our school districts is only one concern. The dismal academic performance of cyber charter schools — and Pennsylvania has one of the largest numbers of such schools in the country — is the other. The poor performance was well-established before the pandemic hit, causing an influx of new student enrollments.

Cyber charter school proficiency rates on the most recent state assessments were, on average, more than 24% lower, and four-year graduation rates were more than 33% lower than traditional public schools. As a result of this performance, every cyber charter school currently operating has been identified by the state Department of Education as needing support and improvement.

Pennsylvania’s charter school law is undeniably outdated, ineffective and damaging to our school districts. Financially, comprehensive charter school reform is essential. We know that the current charter funding mechanism forces school districts to overpay cyber charter schools and overpay for charter special education costs by hundreds of millions of dollars each school year.

Until there is a change to the underlying policy, school districts and taxpayers will continue to ultimately foot the bill — no matter how you slice it.

Many people in Pennsylvania are rightfully disappointed with the poor quality of cyber charter schools and how they are disproportionally funded at the expense of school districts. Given the circumstances created by the pandemic, it is especially frustrating since so many more families turned to these virtual operators in desperation.

Simply put, Pennsylvania policymakers need to drop the politics and put kids first. Level the playing field for public schools by reforming the charter school law’s antiquated provisions related to cyber charter authorizing and funding.

(Cindy Murphy is president of the Otto-Eldred School District Board of Education.)