PENN HILLS, Pa. -- Sen. Rick Santorum and his wife have decided to take their children out of a cyber charter school and are immediately going to begin home-schooling their five school-age children.

The senator had been criticized by Penn Hills School Board member Erin Vecchio for sending his children to an Internet charter school and having the district pay for it. The Republican senator owns a two-bedroom home in Penn Hills but Vecchio said he is never there.

Vecchio is also head of the local Democratic Party. But she said she's bringing up the issue because she has three children in school there. She said the district has paid $100,000 to educate Santorum's children and that's not fair.

In a statement issued late Wednesday night, Santorum said he was notified by the district that only children who live in the district fulltime are eligible to be educated in a public cyber charter school.

Vecchio said she's thrilled with the Santorums' decision. But she said she still thinks he should repay the district for educating his children.