EDUCATION AGENCY POSTS CHARTER SCHOOL REFORM RULES

[Carol Holst <kceh@AIRMAIL.NET>]

I understand that we don't want to hand public monies over to private
companies and let them waste it, but, oh, I don't know what to think...

-       EDUCATION AGENCY POSTS CHARTER SCHOOL REFORM RULES
  -LETTERS NEEDED BY MARCH 17 TO SUPPORT CHARTER SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY!
  -ISSUE BACKGROUND

*******************************************************
EDUCATION AGENCY POSTS CHARTER SCHOOL REFORM RULES

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has posted new rules to implement House
Bill 6 - the
comprehensive charter school reform bill passed by the Texas Legislature
last spring.  HB 6
intended to clean up the Texas charter school system by making charter
schools more
accountable for the taxpayer funds they receive and the educational
services they provide.

TEA and Commissioner Nelson are expected to receive many negative
comments on these rules
from charter schools because the rules would require charter schools to
meet higher standards
of financial and academic accountability.

TEA must also hear from people who support these new charter school
accountability measures!  PLEASE
VOICE YOUR SUPPORT BY for these rules that would discourage fraud and
nepotism, hold charter schools
more accountable for student performance, improve teacher quality, and
ensure public funds are used for
educating students.

*******************************************************
LETTERS NEEDED BY MARCH 17 TO SUPPORT CHARTER SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY!

Please send a letter supporting these charter school accountability
rules BY MARCH 17 to Commissioner Jim
Nelson at the Texas Education Agency, 1701 North Congress Ave., Austin
Texas, 78701, or email him at
galba@tea.state.tx.us.

Letters may draw on the talking points below.  To read the
Commissioner?s proposed rules, go to:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/rules/commissioner/proposed/0202/100-1011n-ltr.html.

*******************************************************
ISSUE BACKGROUND 

Texas began with the creation of 20 charter schools in 1996 and has
rapidly expanded the system to include over
200 charter schools.  Proponents of charter schools argue that school
choice, innovation and competition would
create a better education system.  In practice, however, the overloaded
Texas charter school system has
encouraged selective admission policies, nepotism, mismanagement of
taxpayer funds, and exclusion of
state-mandated services for children.  To date, at least $4.5 million in
public funds have been lost to charter
school closures and has yet to be recovered by the state.  Charter
school students? average TAAS passing rate is
37%, compared to an average TAAS passage rate of 79.9% for public school
students.  

House Bill 6 was passed by the Texas Legislature in 2001 to bring
greater financial and academic accountability
to the Texas charter school system.  Specifically, HB 6 and TEA?s new
rules will:

* Provide the Education Commissioner with more authority to shut down
bad charter schools.

* Require charter school instructors to have at least a high school
diploma.  Before these regulations, there were
no minimum teacher qualifications and there were reported cases of
instructors teaching high school level classes
without having even a high school degree themselves. 

* Establish a cap of 215 on the number of charters that may be granted. 
This will allow Texas to establish the
proper regulatory infrastructure before additional charter schools are
brought into the system.

* Ensure that any taxpayer funds given to a charter holder  as well as
any property bought with those funds -
remain public funds.  Previously, once the state gave money to a charter
school, it was no longer considered
public funds so many charter schools closed or never even opened and
were able to keep the public funds
without educating students.

* Bring more accountability to for-profit management companies that run
charter schools.  

* Increase accountability by making charter school boards subject to the
same open records, open meetings and
nepotism laws that govern public school districts.

*******************************************************

To unsubscribe from this email list, send us an email at tfn@tfn.org
with the subject ?Unsubscribe-Alerts.?

Texas Freedom Network
P.O. Box 1624
Austin, TX 78767
(512) 322-0545
(512) 322-0550 Fax
www.tfn.org
-- 
See you at The Soapbox!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the ARN-L list, send command SIGNOFF ARN-L
to LISTSERV@LISTS.CUA.EDU.