As cyber school funding comes under fire in Pennsylvania, CEO of PA Cyber says things are different now
MIDLAND, Pa. (KDKA) — As state legislators question cyber school funding across Pennsylvania, KDKA-TV looks at how PA Cyber is spending taxpayer money and whether it's being properly spent to educate children.
Six years ago, the founder and former CEO of PA Cyber was sentenced to prison for funneling millions of taxpayer dollars into dummy companies and his pockets. But now as cyber school funding comes under fire across the state, the current CEO says this is a different school.
"Pa Cyber doesn't have an airplane," said Brian Hayden, CEO of PA Cyber. "I live in a one-bedroom condo in Bridgewater and I've been there for 20-some years."
PA Cyber founder Nick Trombetta went to prison for funneling some $8 million in taxpayer money into various companies and into his pockets, funding an opulent lifestyle that included a plane and a condo in Florida. But Hayden said those days are long gone.
"The people who did those things aren't here anymore," he said. "We are a fully accountable public school. Every penny that we have is accounted for."
But today, PA Cyber and other cyber charters across the state are under fire again. The governor and Democratic legislators want to cut their funding, citing poor academic performance and saying they don't carry the same expenses as brick-and-mortar schools.
Since the education is online, the cybers don't fund sports teams, maintain grounds and school buildings, or provide police and security. Meanwhile, local school districts like Sto-Rox say they're struggling to provide the basics while sending charters and cyber charters $8 million a year for students who opt to enroll in online education.
"There is very, very little left," said Megan Van Fossan, superintendent of the Sto-Rox School District. "And I still have to pay the electricity and I still have to pay the heat."
"The students come here by choice," Hayden said. "If we didn't have students, we wouldn't have reimbursements. I've said this before, if you want to keep the money keep the students."
Unlike in the past, Hayden says PA Cyber is a tough fiscal watchdog, and that cuts to funding would result in massive layoffs and cripple its operations.
But while PA Cyber says all vestiges of the Trombetta era are gone, it's still contracting with a company Trombetta founded: Lincoln Learning Solutions, which is now based in Hopewell Township. The school continues to pay Lincoln Learning $20 million a year for curriculum development and other services.
KDKA-TV's Andy Sheehan: "Does PA Cyber need $20 million in new curriculum every year?"
Eugene DePasquale: "I would say the answer to that is a flat no."
DePasquale, the former auditor general and now a candidate for attorney general, said when he tried to determine how Lincoln Learning spends taxpayer money, he was not allowed to review the company's books.
DePasquale also cited the company's high salaries. According to the most recent filings, the CEO is making $337,000 a year, the company spends more than $1 million a year on lobbying and carries a fund balance of $72 million.
"That's why I also believe these management companies should be subject to the right-to-know law so you can actually get under the hood and examine it," DePasquale said.
Lincoln Learning did not return several phone calls asking for comment. But Hayden says the contract with Lincoln Learning is necessary, competitively bid and under constant review.
"That relationship is completely different than what it was a decade ago, and I find it troublesome that people still want to hang that around our neck," Hayden said.
But despite that warning of massive layoffs, the governor and key legislators believe that $8,000 a year is all that's needed to educate a child online.
