Emails, Lauren Callahan, media relations and social media manager; DeEtta Culbertson, media relations and correspondence manager, Texas Education Agency, July 20 through Aug. 8, 2018
From: Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin)
Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2018 1:39 PM
Lauren:
Good afternoon. A tweet we spotted says that in Texas, “charters get 100% state $/pupil funding while district schools (95% students) get about 1/3 funding from state w/ rest coming from local prop taxes (which is why those taxes are so high).”
It further says districts are “getting less b/c scarce $ going to charters.”
Are both parts of this claim factually accurate? Why or why not?
If charters get all student aid from the state, what’s the statutory basis and history behind that?
Other recommended resources or experts on this topic?
As ever, we rely on attributable on-the-record information for our stories.
Thanks,
g.
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W. Gardner Selby
Reporter / News
Austin American-Statesman
PolitiFact Texas
11:24 a.m.
July 20, 2018
Charters and school districts receive funding from state, local, and federal sources. In Texas, the primary source of funding for school districts and charter schools is the Foundation School Program (FSP), which statutorily requires a local share (property taxes) be considered before the State share fills in the remainder (funded primarily through State sales taxes).
For charter schools, it is true that 100% of their FSP funding comes from the State because they do not have authority to levy a property tax. The statutory basis for charter school funding is Texas Education Code Section 12.106. For school districts, the percentage of State/Local contributions vary by district.
Let me know if you need anything else.
Lauren
Lauren Callahan
Media Relations and Social Media Manager
Texas Education Agency
From: Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin)
Sent: Friday, July 27, 2018 12:25 PM
Belated thanks.
Are districts getting less due to charter schools getting dollars that would otherwise flow to districts? Why or why not?
G.
From: Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin)
Sent: Friday, July 27, 2018 1:02 PM
Please see below. I am curious too if TEA has a background paper or posted history on the origin and funding of charter schools versus school districts
From: Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin) Sent: Monday, July 30, 2018 5:47 PM
Folks:
I trust you got my Friday afternoon question below.
I now have additional questions:
I spotted this TEA document. I downloaded it from this TEA web page. Is it the latest available information? When was the document posted or published?
ALSO: In the 2017-18 school year, how many charter schools schooled how many Texas students?
Thanks,
G.
8:45 a.m.
July 31, 2018
It looks like the one pager was published in December 2017. So it is the most up to date information we have.
I’m checking on the other numbers.
DeEtta
From: Gardner Selby Date: Tuesday, July 31, 2018 at 10:35 AM
An advocate shares information attributed to TEA below. Is this accurate? What time period does it cover? Is there a more recent tally?
Thanks again,
g.
From: Phillip Ramati Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2018 10:06 AM
Statewide, about 272,685 students, accounting for about 5.1 percent of all public school students in Texas, attended 675 charter campuses in 2017, according to the Texas Education Agency.
From: Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin) Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2018 10:28 AM
Is that the 2017-18 school year or fiscal 2017 or some other 12-month period?
From: Phillip Ramati Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2018 10:30 AM
I believe it was published Oct. 2017. You may have to check with TEA on what time period it covers.
10:58 a.m.
July 31, 2018
Are districts getting less due to charter schools getting dollars that would otherwise flow to districts? Why or why not?
One of the primary drivers of the Texas School Finance system is student attendance. If a student leaves a school district for any reason, including moving out of state, enrolling in another school district, public charter school, or private school (including home school), the original school district would no longer incur the costs of educating that student, and the original school district’s total funding entitlement would be reduced.
I am curious too if TEA has a background paper or posted history on the origin and funding of charter schools versus school districts.
Since you already found the one-pager I was going to send you, I just have one clarifying question:
For clarification – when you say “origin” of charter schools – are you referring to the funding or to the actual creation of the charter school system?
Thanks
DeEtta
From: Gardner Selby Date: Tuesday, July 31, 2018 at 11:51 AM
Both funding and origin of the schools.
2:16 p.m.
July 31, 2018
Ok- here is the enrollment data:
Using data from the attached document, here are the updated numbers. Note that these numbers are based on the number of students and charter school campuses tied to Subchapter D and E charter schools.
Statewide, about 296,323 students, accounting for about 5.5 percent of all public school students in Texas, attended 705 charter school campuses in 2017, according to the Texas Education Agency.
4:08 p.m.
July 31, 2018
SB 1 in 1995 (74th Legis) created the charter school law. There were originally 20 entities awarded a charter. They each received $250,000 in start up funds.
The first open-enrollment charters were awarded by the State Board of Education (SBOE) in 1996 and opened in 1997. Some charters were established to serve predominantly students at risk of dropping out of school. To promote local initiative, charters are subject to fewer regulations than other public school districts (Texas Education Code [TEC] §12.103). Generally, charters are subject to laws and rules that ensure fiscal and academic accountability but do not unduly regulate instructional methods or pedagogical innovation.
...
4:59 p.m.
Aug. 1, 2018
This is the text re funding for charter schools from Chap. 12 (TEC) in SB 1 (74th Legis) that created the charter school program.
It has changed since 1995. The current Chap 12 Funding law is below this one.
...
(1995 - TEC)
Sec. 12.106. STATE FUNDING. (a) An open‑enrollment charter school is entitled to the distribution from the available school fund for a student attending the open‑enrollment charter school to which the district in which the student resides would be entitled.
(b) A student attending an open‑enrollment charter school who is eligible under Section 42.003 is entitled to the benefits of the Foundation School Program under Chapter 42. The commissioner shall distribute from the foundation school fund to each school an amount equal to the cost of a Foundation School Program provided by the program for which the charter is granted as determined under Section 42.251, including the transportation allotment under Section 42.155, for the student that the district in which the student resides would be entitled to, less an amount equal to the sum of the school's tuition receipts under Section 12.107 plus the school's distribution from the available school fund.
Sec. 12.107. LOCAL FUNDING. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), an open‑enrollment charter school is entitled to receive tuition from the school district in which a student attending the school resides in an amount equal to the quotient of the tax revenue collected by the school district for maintenance and operations for the school year for which tuition is being paid divided by the sum of the number of students enrolled in the district as reported in the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS), including the number of students for whom the district is required to pay tuition.
(b) The tuition to be paid under Subsection (a) by a school district with a wealth per student that exceeds the equalized wealth level under Chapter 41 shall be based on the district's tax revenue after the district has acted to achieve the equalized wealth level under Chapter 41.
2018
TEC Sec. 12.106. STATE FUNDING.
(a) A charter holder is entitled to receive for the open-enrollment charter school funding under Chapter 42 equal to the amount of funding per student in weighted average daily attendance, excluding enrichment funding under Section 42.302(a), to which the charter holder would be entitled for the school under Chapter 42 if the school were a school district without a tier one local share for purposes of Section 42.253.
Text of subsection effective until September 01, 2018
(a-1) In determining funding for an open-enrollment charter school under Subsection (a), adjustments under Sections 42.102, 42.103, 42.104, and 42.105 are based on the average adjustment for the state.
Text of subsection effective on September 01, 2018
(a-1) In determining funding for an open-enrollment charter school under Subsection (a):
(1) adjustments under Sections 42.102, 42.104, and 42.105 are based on the average adjustment for the state; and
(2) the adjustment under Section 42.103 is based on the average adjustment for the state that would have been provided under that section as it existed on January 1, 2018.
(a-2) In addition to the funding provided by Subsection (a), a charter holder is entitled to receive for the open-enrollment charter school enrichment funding under Section 42.302 based on the state average tax effort.
(b) An open-enrollment charter school is entitled to funds that are available to school districts from the agency or the commissioner in the form of grants or other discretionary funding unless the statute authorizing the funding explicitly provides that open-enrollment charter schools are not entitled to the funding.
(c) The commissioner may adopt rules to provide and account for state funding of open-enrollment charter schools under this section. A rule adopted under this section may be similar to a provision of this code that is not similar to Section 12.104(b) if the commissioner determines that the rule is related to financing of open-enrollment charter schools and is necessary or prudent to provide or account for state funds.
Text of subsection effective on September 01, 2018
(d) Subject to Subsection (e), in addition to other amounts provided by this section, a charter holder is entitled to receive, for the open-enrollment charter school, funding per student in average daily attendance in an amount equal to the guaranteed level of state and local funds per student per cent of tax effort under Section 46.032(a) multiplied by the lesser of:
(1) the state average interest and sinking fund tax rate imposed by school districts for the current year; or
(2) a rate that would result in a total amount to which charter schools are entitled under this subsection for the current year equal to $60 million.
From: Gardner Selby Date: Wednesday, August 8, 2018 at 12:07 PM
Thanks. On another front, Leo Lopez (I am told) made this presentation last month. Do the figures for state aid to public education fold in aid to charter schools? If so, how would the shown information change if you removed what was spent in state aid in f17 on charter schools?
G.
1:10 p.m.
Aug. 8, 2018
Ok- so I checked with Leo Lopez and yes, charters are included throughout.
We would not be able to pull charters out by today. There’s a lot of financial data spanning more than a decade in most cases and that would take several days.
Please let me know if you need anything else or have additional questions.