Eight of the 21 people who represent Pennsylvanians in Congress have school-age children. Seven of them own homes in Pennsylvania -- and live in them -- and send their kids to either regular public or private schools in the state.

The eighth, U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, has five of his six children enrolled in the Western Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School in Midland, Beaver County, with the Penn Hills School District footing the bill of about $38,000 a year.

Penn Hills school board member Erin Vecchio, who heads the Democratic Party in Penn Hills, doesn't believe the Republican senator is a Penn Hills resident. She lives near the two-bedroom house owned by Santorum and his wife, Karen, and said he is "never there."

The Penn Hills house owned by the Santorums has a market value of $106,000, according to Allegheny County records. County election records show that, in addition to the Santorums, two others at the same address are registered to vote.

The Santorums also own a house, with an assessed market value of $757,000, in Leesburg, Va., according to Loudoun County records.

While the children of other federal lawmakers physically attend schools in buildings in Pennsylvania, Santorum's children, as students at a cyber charter school, attend by logging onto their computers, enabling them to go to school online anytime and anywhere.

Rep. T.J. Rooney, chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, yesterday called on Santorum to refund the taxpayer dollars he has put toward the education of his own children.

"This is a classic case of the rich man's Robin Hood," Rooney said. "Mr. Santorum makes a generous salary and lives in a very expensive home in Virginia, but he didn't let that stop him from unfairly taking from the Pennsylvania students who need those school funds desperately."

Spokesmen for all 19 U.S. representatives from Pennsylvania, as well as U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, said the lawmakers own homes in Pennsylvania and live there.

According to their spokesmen, at least four own housing in the Washington, D.C., area, as well as in their home districts.

But the spokesmen for the lawmakers emphasized that their primary homes are in Pennsylvania.

Idil Oyman, spokeswoman for Phil English, R-Erie, who does not have school-age children, said he "pretty much goes back to Erie every weekend and during the recesses and spends an awful lot of time in the district. They certainly occupy that residence."

Santorum's spokeswoman, Christine Shott, has not answered whether Santorum stays in the Penn Hills house.

She released a statement from Santorum's communications director, Robert Traynham, on Friday pledging cooperation, but did not clarify his residency status.

Calls Monday and yesterday were not returned.

The state's only other senator, Specter, owns a home in Philadelphia as well as a condominium in Washington, D.C. When he was elected to the Senate in 1980, his two sons were no longer school-age, said his spokesman, Charles Robbins.

Some of those who don't own property in the Washington, D.C., area commute to the capital, which can be a two-hour drive from the southeastern part of the state. Some sleep on the sofas in their offices if meetings runs late.

Others have their own rental apartments or share rental housing with other congressmen.

Some spokesmen declined to say where the lawmakers stay when in Washington, D.C., citing privacy and security.

Of the seven lawmakers other than Santorum who have school-age children, two have children attending public schools in Allegheny County: The daughter of U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Swissvale, is enrolled in Woodland Hills School District, and the daughter of Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, is a student in the Upper St. Clair School District.

Others with children attending regular public schools are U.S. Reps. James Gerlach, R-Downington, Chester County; James Greenwood, R-Doylestown, Bucks County; Bill Shuster, R-Hollidaysburg, Blair County; and Todd Russell Platts, R-York.

Only Chaka Fattah, D-Philadelphia, has a child attending a private school.