Attorneys for the state’s legislative leaders came close to wrapping up their case Wednesday as they called to the stand their ninth and tenth witnesses: a cyber charter official and an economist.
The economist, Eric Hanushek, a longtime proponent of the view that there is not a strong relationship between spending and achievement, was in the middle of cross-examination when court adjourned for the day. His testimony will conclude Thursday morning – the final piece of legislative respondents’ case. Details in our next post.
The cyber charter official who testified before him was Brian Cote, who since 2019 has been the director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment at 21st Century Cyber Charter School, which currently enrolls 1,600 students in grades 6-12 from across Pennsylvania. Cote was also the interim CEO of the school for about 14 months in 2020 and 2021.
Cote is the second cyber charter official to testify for legislative respondents in the case. Like last week’s witness, Maurice Flurie of Commonwealth Charter Academy, he represents a school whose academic outcomes fall far below state averages.
At the outset of his testimony, petitioners’ attorney Margie Wakelin challenged the relevance of Cote’s testimony to this case, given that Pennsylvania’s cyber school sector serves a small percentage of the state’s students, and Cote’s school serves a student population that is only 12% economically disadvantaged.
Cote’s attorney, Anthony Holtzman, responded that “any student in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania who is in grades 6 through 12 who's dissatisfied with the educational opportunities or experiences that they're having at their local district, as an alternative, can attend a school like Mr. Cote's, so it helps to illustrate that essentially there is another path, or another avenue set up by the General Assembly.”
Cote was permitted to testify. Cross-examination of Cote revealed a number of issues related to the quality of that alternative option.
Explaining the school’s operation and course offerings during direct examination, Cote said the school relies on “asynchronous” instruction – meaning that teachers’ lessons are recorded, and students flexibly schedule their coursework. The school has some opportunities for students and teachers to interact directly including “live labs,” “virtual office time,” and tutoring. On cross examination, he acknowledged that these live sessions are generally optional.
Students receive a MacBook and an iPad to access their coursework. . Students are assigned to different pathways – in the high school, there is an “on-grade level” track, a “college prep” track and an “honors” track.
On cross-examination, Cote was shown an advertising video for the school, which highlights a ballerina and a competitive swimmer, emphasizing that the school’s flexibility for students who are pursuing time-intensive activities outside of schools.
Cote acknowledged that cyber education may not work for everyone: “For some students, it may not be the best option.”
The “shared values” statement in the school’s plan says that “not all students learn best in an online learning environment or are motivated for full-time online asynchronous learning.”
The school’s enrollment boomed during the pandemic, growing to more than 2,900 students, Cote said, but it has dropped back to pre-pandemic levels. Explaining that some students choose to return to their original school district, he said, “We recognize that cyber learning may not be that long-term fit for a student.”
The school’s academic performance has landed it on the state’s “Additional Targeted Support and Improvement” (ATSI) schools list, Cote said. Cote acknowledged that schools can be designated as ATSI schools when the four- and five-year graduation rate is below 67% for one or more student groups. 21st Century’s graduation rate is 66% overall, but only 43% for economically disadvantaged students and 51% for special education students.
On cross examination, Cote also acknowledged that the dropout rate for special education students is now 34%, compared to the statewide average of 13%. This issue was cited in the school’s charter renewal in 2019 but was also flagged earlier by the state’s Bureau of Special Education, according to a state document he was shown from 2018.
The school’s 2019 charter renewal called for several corrective actions relating to special education. The school was able to produce appropriate certification for only one of its five special education teachers. In addition, in a review of 10 randomly selected special education students’ files, the department found incomplete and inaccurate records in each of those files.
And special education was not the only area flagged in its renewal. Cote was shown a section of the school’s charter renewal calling for corrective action in four additional areas, one of which was English as a second language.
According to current data shown to Cote, the school’s current English learner population is 0.3% of students. The school’s 2019 charter renewal notice said that the school “was unable to demonstrate key components of its ESL program.”
Wakelin read Cote the corrective action called for in the state’s renewal notice: “21st Century should have an ESL program with applicable policies, procedures and practices in place to serve those EL students who enrolled in 21st Century in past school years and must demonstrate a readiness to offer an ESL program in coming years to support EL students who enroll in 21st Century.”
She asked if new staff have been hired to take this corrective action. “No additional staff was hired for that,” Cote said.