House Education Committee advances bill to cap cyber charter tuition and tighten oversight

At a voting meeting of the House Education Committee, members voted 14-12 to report House Bill 1500, legislation from Representative Isaacson that would set a flat statewide tuition rate of $8,000 for non–special-education students attending cyber charter schools and add new transparency, oversight and fund‑balance limits for those schools.

The bill’s sponsor, Representative Isaacson, said the measure is a response to widespread requests for reform: “487 school districts of 500 in this commonwealth have passed resolutions asking for cyber charter reform.” The legislation, as described to the committee, would also align special-education tuition categories with district rates, prohibit cyber charter unassigned fund balances above 12% of total expenditures, require remittance of excess balances to the public school facility improvement grant program, ban enrollment incentives, add residency verification and facility‑ownership…