Open-enrollment public charter schools are serving more students than ever before.

Since 2017, public charter schools are serving 36% more students, primarily economically disadvantaged students and students of color.^{34 35} Public charter schools are closing achievement gaps, surpassing state average college, career, and military readiness (CCMR) rates, and accelerating student learning.³⁶ But charter schools, just like traditional public schools, are facing funding constraints that are prohibiting them from adequately meeting this all-time high demand, particularly in facilities funding.

Virtual education is here to stay.

The pandemic shined a spotlight on the shortcomings of the current system when everyone had to quickly transition to a virtual environment. In 2022, the Texas Commission on Virtual Education found that a lack of a clear, policy framework that enforced accountable, excellent virtual education is preventing the innovative model from reaching its true potential.³⁷

Texas Partnerships offer a promising opportunity for collaboration.

Texas Partnerships, authorized by SB 1882 (85R), allows districts to access additional state funding and exempt themselves from punitive accountability interventions in order to support innovation and turn around low-performing schools. In 2022, 90% of Texas Partnership graduates outperformed the state CCMR average by more than 20 percentage points. Additionally, 30% of Texas Partnership schools had double-digit increases in their year-over-year STAAR performance.³⁸ The Texas Partnership model works, emphasizing that innovative solutions can originate and thrive within a traditional public school system.

Public charter schools desperately need facilities funding.

Unlike school districts, public charter schools cannot levy property taxes to meet rising construction and transportation costs. Specifically, their facilities are funded through an average of state taxes and subjected to a legislatively-determined cap. The facilities funding cap is driving an average $1,200 per-pupil gap between public charter schools and traditional ISDs.³⁹

The Texas Commission on Virtual Education paved the way.

Strengthening virtual education benefits all students. For districts, virtual education can allow districts to offer competitive options; for rural communities, it can expand access to advanced coursework; for CTE students, it can allow for work-based learning experiences; and for highly-mobile students, it can minimize disruption to their learning.

There’s much to learn from Texas Partnerships.

By studying, elevating, and strengthening these partnerships, we can increase access to school models that allow traditional public schools to innovate and thrive.