Martha Woodall, Inquirer Staff Writer
POSTED: Saturday, March 16, 2013, 6:09 AM
The Solomon Charter School only opened in September, but Pennsylvania’s secretary of education filed charges Friday to revoke the operating charter of the Philadelphia-based cyber school for violating its charter and state law.
Secretary Ron Tomalis said the cyber school based at 1209 Vine St. was not meeting the requirement of offering a significant portion of its instruction to students online.
“Since opening its doors in September 2012, Solomon has primarily operated as a brick-and-mortar charter school, circumventing the brick-and-mortar charter school authorization process and negating the essential basis on which the charter was granted – that the school would provide a ‘cyber’ education to its students,” Tomalis said in a statement.
He said Education Department officials visited the Vine Street headquarters three times. Each visit confirmed that Solomon was operating a regular charter school, and serving lunch and providing transportation for students.
In the application the Education Department approved last spring, Solomon said it would offer a combination of online and classroom instruction.
Founders said they would begin with seventh through 10th grades, teach Hebrew, and focus on world civilizations.
Stephen Crane, a Center City businessman and founder, had considered opening a Hebrew-language charter on Vine Street in 2010.
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