Current Charter School Special Education Tuition Rate Calculation
Charter schools, unlike school districts, do not receive special education or regular education funding from the state.
They are funded entirely (with the exception of federal dollars and any Contingency Fund dollars) by the school districts
of their enrolled students. Charter schools receive tuition from resident school districts based upon the requirements in
section 1725-A of the Public School Code.
Below is the charter school special education tuition calculation. This is completed annually and is based on the
expenditures of the school district. Please note that it is based upon the assumption that each school district has a
special education population of 16%, which is not the case.
SD Special Ed.
Deductions
SD Special Ed.
Expenditures
Charter School
Regular
Education Tuition
Charter School
Special Ed. Tuition
SD Special
Education
ADMs
Generally, this calculation more than doubles the charter school regular education tuition rate, without any
consideration of the costs of the special education charter school students. This current tuition calculation also creates a
tremendous incentive for charter schools to identify students as needing special education services as charter schools
retain any unused special education dollars to use at their discretion.
Charter School Special Education Tuition Rates
(Amount Paid by Resident School District Per Student 12-13)
Lowest Per Student Special Education Tuition
$12,152
Average Per Student Special Education Tuition
$19,003
Highest Per Student Special Education Tuition
$41,595
On average, across all school district special education charter school tuition rates, charter schools receive $19,003 per
special education student—again, this tuition rate is based entirely on the costs of the resident school district. In
contrast, however, charter schools are actually spending, on average, approximately $10,137 per special education
student.
Amount Charter Schools Receive Per Special
Education Student (12-13 AFR)
Amount Charter Schools Spend Per Special
Education Student (12-13 AFR 1200 costs plus
estimated markup based on Act 1 and Act 16)
$19,003
1|Page
$10,137
Charter School Special Education Tuition Rate Calculation in House Bill 2138/Senate Bill 1316
House Bill 2138/Senate Bill 1316 modifies the current charter school special education tuition calculation to provide
charter schools with special education tuition tailored to the costs of educating each special education student.
Under the bills, a charter school will determine the special education cost category into which each special education
student falls based on annual Act 16 submissions. The three cost categories and weights are the same that apply to
school districts under House Bill 2138/Senate Bill 1316.



Category 1: special education costs under $25,000 (weight 1.51)
Category 2: special education costs between $25,000 and $49,000 (weight 3.77)
Category 3: special education costs equal to or above $50,000 (weight 7.46)
Below is the charter school special education calculation proposed in House Bill 2138/Senate 1316, which multiplies the
regular education charter school tuition rate by the appropriate weight for each charter school special education
student.
Charter School
Regular Education
Tuition
Category 1
Weight=1.51
Charter School
Category 1 Tuition
Charter School
Regular Education
Tuition
Category 2
Weight=3.77
Charter School
Category 2 Tuition
Charter School
Regular Education
Tuition
Category 3
Weight=7.46
Charter School
Category 3 Tuition
House Bill 2138/Senate Bill 1316 no longer relies on one single special education tuition rate for every special education
student regardless of their cost. Instead, a charter school will receive a special education tuition rate that is tied to the
estimated cost of every individual charter school special education student. Most special education students fall into
Category 1.
Cost Category
% of CS Special Education Students (IFO Survey Data)
Category 1
96%
Category 2
3.3%
Category 3
0.7%
Charter schools with high cost special education students will receive more dollars for those students than under the
current tuition calculation, providing charter schools with greater relief for their high cost special education students.
2|Page