Texas State Board of Education approves new charter schools in Austin area. Here's where.

Keri Heath, Austin American-Statesman
·3 min read
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath has come under fire in recent years for approving charter schools with what critics say is too little oversight.
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath has come under fire in recent years for approving charter schools with what critics say is too little oversight.

The Texas State Board of Education approved four of five proposed new charter schools — including two in the Austin area — during its board meeting Friday.

The board approved the Texas Girls School in the Lake Travis area and Unparalleled Preparatory Academy in Manor. The board also approved Pathway Academy in Big Spring and Infinite Minds in Arlington, but it vetoed Visionary STEM Academy in Terrell, east of Dallas.

The two Austin-area schools plan to open in communities that have experienced high growth.

While there are currently no charter schools operating within the Lake Travis school district's boundaries, there are about seven within the Manor school district's boundaries, according to Texas Education Agency data.

This fact and the Manor district’s heavy focus on career and technical education, or CTE, led some state board members to question the need for Unparalleled Preparatory Academy, which will be career and technology education focused.

“Your model kind of has a CTE focus,” Member Tom Maynard, R-Florence, said during a meeting Wednesday. “The school district where you're going also has a big CTE focus. If there's already a big CTE focus in Manor ISD, then why do we need the charter?”

Manor school district representatives who spoke Wednesday also believed the charter school would duplicate efforts the traditional district is already making. Manor New Tech High School Principal Bobby Garcia insisted the district is meeting the area's demand and making plans for future growth.

The growing area east of Austin has a high demand for career and technical courses, said Unparalleled Preparatory Academy's proposed superintendent, Shonqualla West. Different high schools can offer different career paths for students, she said.

“The reason why parents are looking for school choice and why students are looking for school choice is because of the experience that they will have learning day to day as they're working toward their post-secondary success,” West said.

The 15-member elected state board — which consists of 10 Republicans and five Democrats — approves new charter schools in the state among other things, like instructional materials, new curriculum standards and requirements for teacher certification.

Charter schools are public schools that don’t collect property taxes like a typical school district does. Instead, the state gives campuses a per-student amount. Charters also typically have appointed school boards, rather than elected boards like those in traditional districts.

Charters were created in the 1990s with the intention of creating innovative education models.

Officials with traditional school districts have frequently opposed charter schools as state public school funding has become tighter. Schools are funded on a per-student baseline, so every child who leaves a public school for a charter means a financial hit for traditional school districts.

“Since the governor wouldn't let the Legislature increase public education funding last year, there are a lot of districts facing budget deficits,” said Clay Robison, spokesman for the Texas State Teachers Association.

During the 2023 legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott effectively blocked any passage of significant funding increases for public schools unless lawmakers passed school vouchers, a controversial program that would use public money to fund a student’s private school tuition. A coalition of Democratic House members and rural Republicans blocked school vouchers in the lower legislative chamber.

About 420,000 students, or 8% of Texas' 5.5 million public school students, attend charter campuses, according to TEA data.

Education Commissioner Mike Morath has come under fire in recent years for approving charter schools with what critics say is too little oversight. In March, TEA placed IDEA Public Schools — one of the largest charter networks in Texas — under conservatorship, a type of monitoring, over multiple allegations of financial mishandling.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas SBOE approves charter schools in Austin area. Why some oppose.