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Page 2 House Research Organization
Legislative history
The 74th Texas Legislature in 1995 enacted Chapter
12 of the Education Code to govern charter schools as part
of a comprehensive rewrite of the code. The stated goals
of the law are to provide choice in learning opportunities,
attract new teachers to the public education system, and
encourage innovative learning. Since the initial legislation,
statutory revisions have altered how the schools are
authorized and expanded and how the state may force the
closure of underperforming charters.
Types of charter schools. Charter schools are
authorized and overseen either by the state or a school
district. Texas has four types of charter schools: home-
rule school district charters, campus or campus program
charters, open-enrollment charters, and university or
junior college charters.
State-authorized. Most are open-enrollment charter
schools authorized by the education commissioner under
ch. 12, subch. D to which any student living in the
charter school's approved geographic region may apply
for admission. Under this law, entities eligible to operate
an open-enrollment charter school include nonprofits,
institutions of higher education, and governmental
entities. Like a school district, a charter operator is
identified as a Local Education Agency, or LEA, for
state reporting purposes and may operate more than one
campus. In the 2020-2021 school year, there were 184
state-authorized charter school operators and 835 state-
authorized charter school campuses. The commissioner
also authorizes Subchapter E charters, which are operated
by public colleges and universities. As of December 2020,
there were six such operators of 26 campuses.
District-authorized. School district boards of trustees
may authorize and oversee campus charter schools
under Subchapter C. This law allows school boards to
contract with outside entities, including charter operators,
nonprofits, and higher education institutions, to operate
certain district campuses or programs at specified district
campuses. In the 2020-2021 school year, about 62,000
students were enrolled in district-authorized charter
schools. The number of district-charter partnerships has
increased since the passage of a 2017 law that provides
financial and accountability incentives for qualifying
partnerships. See "District-charterpartnershipsformed under
SB 1882, "page 3.Subchapter B authorizes a traditional school district *
to convert to a home-rule school district charter. A
conversion must be initiated by a vote of two-thirds of a
school board or a petition signed by 5 percent of a district's
registered voters and later approved by district voters in an
election. There currently are no home-rule school district
charters, although in 2014 the Dallas ISD considered such
a conversion.
Limits on charters. When it first authorized the
creation of charter schools in 1995, the Texas Legislature
capped the number of new open enrollment charters that
could be awarded. The Legislature since has increased the
cap from the initial 20 to the current cap of 305. Charter
applicants specify the number of campuses they initially
plan to open and may be eligible to add campuses after
three years of operation. The majority of charter schools
manage fewer than six campuses. Eleven large charter
systems, meaning those that run more than 10 campuses,
in 2020 managed a total of 342 campuses serving 157,224
students.
The original 20 charters awarded in 1996 are
designated as first-generation charters. Twelve of those
remain active. From 1997 to 1999 the State Board of
Education (SBOE) approved 41 second-generation
charters and 109 third-generation charters. Many charter
schools that opened during this period of rapid expansion
were later closed by the state for academic or financial
reasons. Texas has 23 second-generation and 36 third-
generation charters still operating.
In 2001 the 77th Legislature enacted HB 6, which
raised the cap on charters to 215. The law subjected
charter school governing bodies to state laws on open
records and public meetings, public purchasing and
contracting, conflicts of interest, nepotism, and immunity
from liability. The bill established a procedure for
notifying school districts when a proposed charter school
was likely to draw from their student body.
'Three-strikes' law. Acting to increase oversight of
charter schools, the Legislature in 2013 passed SB 2 by
Patrick. It changed the charter authorizer from SBOE
to the education commissioner. The bill enhanced the
commissioner's authority to revoke charters under the
so-called "three strikes" provision and revised requirements
for reviewing charter applicants and renewing charters.
Since 2013, the education commissioner has overseen the
closure of 41 charters.Page 2
House Research Organization
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Texas. Legislature. House of Representatives. Research Organization. Focus Report, Volume 87, Number 4, November 2021, periodical, November 1, 2021; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1507625/m1/2/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.