The Arts Charter is not needed in Bensalem Township, or Lower Bucks County, PA.

 We, the undersigned parents and guardians of students, together with teachers and other community stakeholders of Bucks County School Districts petition the Bensalem School Board Directors to reject the application for Charter from TLC Arts Schools, LLC or any other corporation that may apply with the same intent.

The aforementioned community members petition the Board to reject the above charter application on the following grounds:

1. Public schools in Bucks County already offer the following programs for academic credit: Creative Writing, Journalism, Dance, Instrumental Music, Theatre, Vocal Music, Visual and Graphic Art. The students who have graduated from these programs have gone on to successful careers—on Broadway, on International News Stations in a top 4 market—as playwrights, and as authors and musicians who have received awards for their outstanding work in their fields (including a Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy). They have also gone on to successful political careers, professorships, entrepreneurial endeavors, and countless other professions which continue to shape the next generation and positively impact our global community. This short list is not all encompassing and does not even begin to scratch the surface of the thousands of success stories that have been born out of these programs in our public schools.
   
   The “majors” offered by the proposed charter are duplicative of the well-established programs that have existed for generations, and which continually evolve to embrace new technology and trends.
   
   Put simply, this charter school is utterly unnecessary.
   
   
2. If the proposed charter enrolls 400 students then it would, at a minimum, drain $6,000,000 from the taxpayers of Bucks County (this number does NOT consider any special education costs which would more than double the cost of any student who attends the school).  
   
   
3. Charter schools are paid approximately $35,000 per student with special needs, regardless of the actual cost to educate that individual student.  Any student who requires special education can get those accommodations at the public schools in the arts programs they desire. In fact, students who attend a public with an IEP MUST have their needs met, while a charter school may not be equipped or inclined to do so.
   
   
4. As a charter school, the teaching staff is not held to the same certification standards as our public school teachers; they do not need to be highly qualified, or even certified by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. When charter school teachers are contracted on a year-to-year basis, those teachers have no job security. As a result, there will always be an air of instability for students, teachers, and parents.  Continuity of programming will depend on whether or not teachers are offered a better job in any of the surrounding public school districts.
   
   
5. Like many others, this charter school claims to be “non-profit.” However, inadequate oversight and a lax law have allowed some charter school operators to defraud taxpayers.  Charter management organizations are permitted to spend unlimited taxpayer dollars on expenses that are unrelated to educating children including political lobbying, 7-figure CEO salaries, and advertising.
   
   
6. Thomas S. Lubben, the man who is leading the charge to open this charter school, appears to have no allegiance to quality education or the arts. Instead, he seems intent on making money on the backs of taxpayers.  In 2000, he left his job as Executive Director for Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Performing Arts BEFORE it even opened for a more lucrative position with for-profit charter management organization, Mosaica Education.  Mosaica Education was responsible for opening the first charter school in Bensalem, Mosaica Academy Charter School. In 2001 Mosaica Academy chose to sever ties with Mosaica Education due to poor management, and the school was reopened under its current name, School Lane Charter School.  More recently, Mr. Lubben’s last four petitions to open Charter Schools were REJECTED.
   
   We don’t want to give Mr. Lubben the chance to make his next fortune on the backs of Bucks County residents at the EXPENSE of our children in public school.

We, the undersigned, respectfully request and DEMAND that the Bensalem School Directors hereby REJECT the application of TLC Arts Schools, LLC. They are not welcome and not needed in our communities.