Gillingham Charter School in Schuylkill County has joined the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools in opposing House Bill 2634, legislation that would make significant changes to Pennsylvania's charter school funding formula.
The Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools (PCPCS), which represents both brick-and-mortar and cyber charter schools across the Commonwealth, recently criticized the bill following its approval by the Pennsylvania House Education Committee. Coalition leaders say the measure would reduce funding for charter schools and negatively affect more than 180,000 students enrolled in those schools statewide.
According to the coalition, some of the most significant impacts would be felt by students receiving special education services. PCPCS leaders expressed concern that proposed changes to the special education funding structure could reduce resources used for specialized services, therapies, interventions, and educational supports.
“At its core, HB 2634 is not about improving educational outcomes for students, it is about reducing resources available to public charter school students,” said Dr. Andrea Coleman-Hill, president of the PCPCS Board of Directors.
Coleman-Hill said lawmakers should focus on supporting student success regardless of the type of public school students attend and argued that the legislation targets special needs students rather than addressing the needs of all children.
Dr. Alberta O'Brien, vice president of the PCPCS Board of Directors, said public charter schools serve students in urban, suburban, and rural communities throughout Pennsylvania and that families choose those schools because they meet needs that may not be addressed elsewhere.
“Every dollar removed from public charter school funding is a dollar taken away from students, teachers, academic programs, and educational services,” O'Brien said. “The General Assembly should be looking for ways to strengthen public education options for families, not create barriers that limit innovation, student opportunity, and educational choice.”
The coalition also maintains that charter school students are public school students and should have equitable access to educational resources and opportunities. PCPCS is calling on lawmakers to reject HB 2634 and instead work collaboratively with charter school leaders, educators, parents, and students on education policy reforms.
Locally, Gillingham Charter School issued its own statement criticizing the proposed legislation and questioning why charter schools are funded differently from traditional public school districts.
“It’s odd that charter public schools are treated differently and funded differently than traditional public schools, even though they both serve public school students,” the school said.
According to Gillingham, Pennsylvania's brick-and-mortar charter schools already receive 20 to 30 percent less funding than traditional school districts and have not received the additional adequacy funding that school districts have benefited from since 2025.
School officials argued that the new per-pupil funding calculations proposed under House Bill 2634 are not being applied to traditional public school districts.
“This is an equity issue, and it should be stopped,” the statement said.
Gillingham Charter School also called on supporters of school choice and those who “believe in justice for all” to contact their state legislators and oppose what it described as the “unjust, unfair, unequal” legislation.
Supporters of House Bill 2634 have argued that the measure would modernize Pennsylvania's charter school funding formula. However, charter school advocates contend that the proposal would further reduce resources available to charter schools and limit educational opportunities for students and families who have chosen those schools.
House Bill 2634 was recently approved by the Pennsylvania House Education Committee and continues to move through the legislative process in the General Assembly.