Sen. Rick Santorum's children went to a Pa. cyber charter school on taxpayer money while in Virginia.
A Pittsburgh-area school district will try to settle a dispute over $100,000 in tuition that its taxpayers
paid for five of U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum's children to attend a cyber charter school while living in Virginia, a state Education
Department spokeswoman said yesterday.
A negotiated settlement would eliminate the need for a public hearing on the high-profile dispute between
the Penn Hills School District and the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School.
Both sides have agreed to work toward resolving the matter without a hearing, department spokeswoman Bethany
Yenner said. A state-appointed hearing officer has set a May 9 deadline for the parties to present settlement terms, she said.
The settlement would need the hearing officer's approval to become final, Yenner said.
"If it appears they cannot come to an agreement, he will have a hearing," she said.
Santorum (R., Pa.) withdrew his children from the Midland-based cyber school in November amid news reports
about Penn Hills officials who questioned why they were paying to educate Santorum's children.
Santorum owns a two-bedroom house in Penn Hills that was assessed at $106,000 last year, but his family
lives primarily on their nearly 4-acre property in Leesburg, Va., which was assessed at $757,000 this year, according to tax
records.
School officials estimated they spent about $100,000 on tuition for the senator's children since 2001.
Pennsylvania law requires school districts to pay for students who live in the district and enroll in cyber
schools. Districts must pay the equivalent of 80 percent of their per pupil costs toward cyber-school students' tuition.
Santorum's spokeswoman, Christine Shott, said that although the senator is not a party to the dispute,
"he is interested in the proceedings, and obviously disagrees with the school district's objections."
By Martha Raffaele, Associated Press, Philly.com, Mar 30, 2005
