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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The number of troubled charter schools that are forced to close is accelerating because of a new state law that makes it easier to shutter poorly performing ones.
The Texas Education Agency has revoked the license of five charter schools since February. Three others, including one co-founded by NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, have appeals pending, according to The Dallas Morning News (http://bit.ly/1tWKanq ). If those appeals are unsuccessful, it would result in the most revocations of charter school licenses in a single year.
A recent ruling by a state appeals court in Austin determined the TEA can still revoke the license of a school while court action is pending.
"It moves us one step closer to confirming that the law doesn't give the charters the legal right to go to court," agency spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe said. "This will speed up future efforts to close charters under this rule."
A charter revocation means that schools lose their state funding, which is a vast majority of their budgets.
The law enacted last year requires the TEA to close charters after three consecutive years of poor academic or financial performance. Schools can appeal to the TEA and another state agency's administrative judges, but not to the state court system.
Charter schools have had far more academic and financial problems than traditional school districts, according to a report last year by a state commission.
Some schools have argued the TEA denied them due process in the appeals system.
David Dunn, executive director of the Texas Charter Schools Association, is a supporter of state efforts to get troubled charters revoked and allow new operators to flourish. But he agreed with some critics of TEA.
"We don't think their (preliminary) rules provide the due process that the law contemplates," he told the newspaper.
Dunn said the hearing procedures excluded the participation of the charter schools, other than filing an appeal letter and supporting documents. Also, schools are not given any direction about what documentation should be included in an appeal, he said.
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Information from: The Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com
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