Tag Archives: charter schools

Charter bill passes Senate, voucher bill passes out of committee

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Score one for Sen. Dan Patrick. As colleagues praised Education Chairman Dan Patrick’s efforts at building consensus, a significantly altered version of his expansion of the state’s charter school system quickly passed out of the Senate Thursday afternoon. Patrick, R-Houston, … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Their charter school legislation and ours

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

How much of this sounds familiar to you? Charter schools would be given free rein if a proposal from Republicans in North Carolina’s state Senate is passed. Under the plan, oversight of charters would be taken from the state’s board … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Their charter school legislation and ours

TEA drops the hammer on North Forest again

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Pretty much as expected. North Forest ISD announced Monday that the Texas Education Agency had upheld the decision to close the school district and annex it to Houston ISD this summer. The ruling, however, does not end the school district’s … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on TEA drops the hammer on North Forest again

HISD and KIPP debate North Forest’s future

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

HISD SUperintendent Terry Grier and KIPP co-founder Mike Feinberg meet with the Chronicle to discuss their vision for North Forest ISD. Under either scenario, students could face longer school hours to help them catch up academically, and some employees may … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on HISD and KIPP debate North Forest’s future

The prospects for increasing charter schools

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

According to the Trib, it’s trickier than it might look. Senate Bill 2, the centerpiece of Patrick’s plans for the session, is the most ambitious attempt to expand the state’s charter school system since it was established in 1995. To … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

North Forest still fighting closure

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know how successful they’ll be, nor do I know if I should wish them luck. Texas Education Agency officials on Friday made their final case for closing North Forest ISD, while district leaders countered that the school system … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on North Forest still fighting closure

Not so fast on the North Forest charter plan

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Not everyone is convinced that the plan to allow a consortium of charter schools to take over North Forest ISD is a good idea. In interviews Monday, state Rep. Senfronia Thompson and Sens. Rodney Ellis and John Whitmire, all Democrats, … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Charters apply to take over North Forest ISD

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Fine by me. In a potentially groundbreaking move, three of Houston’s top-performing charter schools are making a pitch to run the long-troubled North Forest school district. The charter groups — KIPP, YES Prep and Harmony — are asking Texas Education … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

More concern of convenience

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

David Dewhurst channels Dan Patrick. Dewhurst, noting his differing view from Straus, said he’s a product of public schools and wants to support them, but said he doesn’t want to leave an estimated 315,000 Texas students in academically unacceptable schools. … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Senate committee restores some money to public education

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Emphasis on the “some”. Texas public schools would get back a chunk of the $5.4 billion in state funding they lost two years ago under a budget proposal adopted by the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday. But they probably should … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Senate committee restores some money to public education

Why do we think more charters would help?

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Patricia Kilday Hart discusses the political battle over charter schools, but in doing so reminds me that there’s a fundamental question that seems to be going largely unasked. Now, a sweeping bill filed by Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, could lead … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

HISD cold on Patrick’s charter proposal

Posted on February 24, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

HISD has a bone to pick with Sen. Dan Patrick’s school choice bill. The Houston Independent School District was charter friendly long before other school districts were, mainly due to the influence of then-Superintendent Rod Paige. The nationally known Knowledge … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Some charter school stories

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Now that Sen. Dan Patrick has filed his school choice bill, I thought this would be a good time to review some recent stories about charter schools. There were a couple of interesting stories relating to charter schools in the … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Patrick files his “school choice” bill

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From the Trib: The State Board of Education currently oversees applications for charter school contracts, which state law caps at 215. Patrick’s Senate Bill 2 would create a new state entity to authorize the contracts and lift that cap, allowing … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

School finance system ruled unconstitutional

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Surely no one is surprised by this. The system Texas uses to fund public schools violates the state’s constitution by not providing enough money and failing to distribute the money in a fair way, a judge ruled Monday in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

What we need is better choice

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

With all the talk about “school choice” floating around, it’s important to remember that in Houston at least we already have a lot of options from which to choose. Houston’s urban school leaders vowed Wednesday to continue efforts to expand … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Patrick teases his school choice proposals

Posted on October 30, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

He doesn’t want to call it “vouchers”, but if it walks like a duck… “If there’s one message that I want to send, it’s that I want to champion public education,” said Patrick, the new chairman of the Senate Public … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

TREE lawsuit may proceed with the other school finance suits

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

We will have one big school finance lawsuit, not multiple separate suits. State District Judge John Dietz ruled on Tuesday that the claims from Texans for Real Efficiency and Equity in Education, a group of charter school supporters and parents, … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on TREE lawsuit may proceed with the other school finance suits

Some things are not easily replicated

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Harmony Public Schools appears to have cracked the code. The charter school system, with 38 campuses across Texas and more than 23,000 students, regularly produces students who excel at math, science and … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Once again on charter school facilities

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

David Dunn of the Texas Charter Schools Association writes another op-ed about funding for charter school facilities. The Texas Charter Schools Association has looked at the needs of public school students whose parents have chosen the option of public charter … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Once again on charter school facilities

School finance lawsuit #6

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

And then there were six. The Texas Charter School Association announced Tuesday that it would enter the legal fray, arguing that the state has short-changed charter schools because it does not provide funding for facilities. “Just because a parent puts … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

School finance lawsuit #5

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The plaintiffs keep on coming. A lawsuit by a small group of parents claims Texas is not getting enough bang for its educational buck, and asks the state’s courts to address inefficiencies in how education funding is spent. Attorneys plan … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Dis-Harmony

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting story about the Harmony charter schools, which are right up there with KIPP and YES Prep among the top charters. They seem to attract a fair amount of criticism, more than their peers, for how they do their business, … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The HISD/charter school “talent war”

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This sounds more alarming than it should be. KIPP, in competition with HISD for students, increasingly is wooing high-level staff, too. Mike Feinberg, cofounder and superintendent of KIPP Houston, calls the contest for administrators “a talent war.” Since last year, … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Why the budget almost didn’t pass in the special session

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

You may recall that just before the House passed SB1, which was a must-pass bill for the special session and whose failure would have necessitated a second special session, the House voted it down before reconsidering and passing it on … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Why the budget almost didn’t pass in the special session

House passes budget after brief meltdown

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

For a few brief moments, it looked like we were heading to double overtime, as Republicans voted down their own budget in the House. The Texas House, in a surprise turn of events late Tuesday afternoon, tentatively voted down a … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Adding charter schools

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

There are currently 210 active charter schools, and state law limits the total number to 215. (Note that this refers to charter school networks as well, so those 210 schools translates to about 520 campuses.) There are about 56,000 students … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Adding charter schools

Harmony Academy

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting story about another large charter school network in Texas. With little fanfare, the Harmony Academy system has become the powerhouse of the Texas charter school scene — easily surpassing KIPP and Yes Prep as the largest charter network in … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

More charter school stuff

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Now that you’ve listened to my interview with Chris Barbic, here are a couple more charter school-related articles of interest. First, from the Trib, a story about charter schools getting help for facilities from the Permanent School Fund. Fledgling charter … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Interview with Chris Barbic

Posted on February 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Most of what we’ve talked about regarding the budget and the cuts that would result from it has to do with the public schools. But in the background of all this is charter schools, which will also be affected by … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

The coming cuts to public education

Posted on December 10, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

We know that public education is a huge part of the state’s budget, and in the absence of any willingness on the part of the Republicans to ensure that it’s properly funded, we know there will be cuts coming. How … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The charter schools make their case

Posted on August 24, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Specifically, David Dunn, the executive director of the Texas Charter School Association, makes the case for public funds for charter school facilities in this op-ed from the weekend. One of the major obstacles to critical education reform in Texas is … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on The charter schools make their case

The SBOE and charter schools

Posted on July 24, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Some members of the State Board of Education want to get into the charter school business. Representatives for Texas’ 460 independent charter schools asked the State Board of Education on Wednesday to tap into the state’s education trust fund and … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Charter schools

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

There’s good and there’s bad, and if we’re smart about it we can maximize the former while minimizing the latter. Fifteen years into the Texas charter school experiment, some charters have brought impressive innovation to public education, saved dropouts and … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , | 2 Comments