June 2018 Committee on School Initiatives Item 2
Review of the Commissioner of Education’s
Generation 23 Charter Proposals
June 15, 2018
COMMITTEE ON SCHOOL INITIATIVES: ACTION
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION: ACTION
SUMMARY: This item provides the committee and board an opportunity to review and take action or no action on the commissioner’s list of proposed Subchapter D Open-Enrollment Charter Schools scheduled to open in school year 2019-2020. If awarded, the charters will have an initial five-year term with a July 31, 2024 contract end date.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: Texas Education Code (TEC), §12.101.
PREVIOUS BOARD ACTION: Annually within 90 days of the commissioner’s notification of his intent to grant charters, the State Board of Education (SBOE) has an opportunity to formally consider the commissioner’s proposals and to take action or take no action. At the June 2017 board meeting, the SBOE took into consideration the five applicants recommended by the Commissioner of Education for charter award. The SBOE voted to take no action on all five charter applicants: Bridgeway Preparatory Academy (Dallas); Etoile Academy Charter School (Houston); Legacy School of Sport Sciences (Houston); Valor Public Schools (Austin); and Yellowstone College Preparatory (Houston).
BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND SIGNIFICANT ISSUES: Texas Education Code (TEC), 12.101, amended in the 84th Texas Legislative Session, 2015, grants the commissioner the authority to award up to 305 open-enrollment charters on a graduated basis by the year 2019 to eligible entities that: are considered capable of carrying out the responsibilities of the charter, are likely to operate a school of high quality, have been proposed by the commissioner, and are not vetoed by a majority of members of the SBOE. Prior to the charter school award cycle, the commissioner adopted the Generation 23 Open-Enrollment Charter Application, Guidelines and Request for Applications, establishing the timeline and procedures for the application cycle, the contents of the application, and the criteria by which charter schools would be awarded to eligible entities. Inclusive of the criteria, Generation 23 applications must have earned a cut score of 85% to be granted an interview.
Fourteen of the 21 applications submitted by the December 4, 2017 deadline were deemed to be complete after review by Texas Education Agency staff. The external reviewers, designated through a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process, scored the 14 applications for charter. Six of the applications met the initial cut score of 85% to be granted an interview. Three additional applications met the score threshold of 80%-84% and qualified for further external review; but of these three, none met the required threshold as a result of the additional review. Consequently, none was granted an interview. Two of the applicants exceeding the cut score withdrew from consideration, and the remaining four proceeded to the interview stage. The commissioner’s designee conducted interviews along with agency representatives from Monday, May 21 through Tuesday, May 22, 2018. State Board of Education members were invited to attend the interviews.
FISCAL IMPACT: A fiscal implication would be likely for local school districts as a result of open-enrollment charters being authorized. A decrease in state revenue to local districts would occur as the result of students attending an open-enrollment charter school instead of a traditional district school.
PUBLIC AND STUDENT BENEFIT: In accordance with current statute, the approval of open-enrollment charters will provide new avenues for flexibility, innovation, local restructuring, and school choice options for parents and students. Charter schools offer a public school choice option and enroll approximately 5% of Texas public school students.
PROCEDURAL AND REPORTING IMPLICATIONS: Open-Enrollment Charter Schools are subject to the public school accountability system under TEC, Chapter 39, Subchapters B, C, D, E, F, G, and J, and reporting requirements referenced in TEC §12.104, which include, but are not limited to, PEIMS; criminal history records, Chapter 22, Subchapter C; Special Education, Chapter 29, Subchapter A; and Bilingual Education, Chapter 29, Subchapter B.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: None.
OTHER COMMENTS AND RELATED ISSUES: No other comments or related issues are presented.
MOTION TO BE CONSIDERED: The State Board of Education:
Take no action on the list of proposed Generation 23 Open-Enrollment Charter Schools submitted by the Commissioner of Education.
Staff Members Responsible:
Martin Winchester, Deputy Commissioner,
Educator and System Support
Joe Siedlecki, Associate Commissioner
System Support
Heather Mauzé, Director
Charter School Administration
Attachment: Commissioner of Education’s Generation 23 Open-Enrollment Charter Proposals (PDF, 22 KB)