Invisible Government: Special Purpose Districts in Texas - Senate

Research
SPOTLIGHT
Special Purpose Districts
college or university charters. Home-rule school
district charters are adopted by ISDs seeking to
change all of their schools into charter schools. A
campus program charter school was once a school in
an ISD that decided to transition that particular school
into a charter school. Open-enrollment charter schools
are nonprofit organizations whose charters are granted
by SBOE, and they comprise most of the charter
schools in Texas. College or university charter schools
are developed by higher education institutions, and
currently, two charters have been awarded to a senior
university. There are currently no schools operating
under home-rule school district charters.
According to “Texas Charter School Statistics, January,
2008,” by the Resource Center for Charter Schools,
there are 197 open-enrollment charters with 374 openenrollment
charter school sites, two university charters,
and 59 campus or campus program charters. The same
report shows that total enrollment in charter schools in
Texas in 2007 was 100,839 students in 256 charters, with
4,919 teachers employed by charter schools. There are
currently no schools operating under home-rule school
district charters.
ffHome-Rule School District Charters
A school district is authorized to adopt a home-rule
school district charter under which the district will
operate. A home-rule school district has the powers
and entitlements granted to school districts and school
district boards, including taxing authority.
The board of trustees of a school district is required to
appoint a 15-member charter commission to frame a
home-rule school district charter if the board receives a
petition containing signatures of at least five percent of
the registered voters of the district or if at least two-thirds
of the board votes to adopt a resolution ordering that a
charter commission be appointed. The charter developed
by the commission is required to address certain issues,
including the educational programs that are offered, the
governing structure, the performance levels, and the
budgetary process.
The Education Code requires the charter commission to
submit the proposed charter to the secretary of state. If
the secretary of state determines that the proposed charter
changes the governing structure of the school district,
the board is required to submit the proposed change to
the United States Department of Justice or the United
States District Court for the District of Columbia for
preclearance under the Voting Rights Act. The charter
must also be submitted to the commissioner of education
for review to ensure compliance with the law and to
provide recommendations for modifications.
The board of trustees is required to order an election on
the proposed charter as soon as practicable after approval
by the commissioner of education. The charter is adopted
when approved by a majority of the qualified voters of
the district in an election, so long as at least 25 percent
of the voters in the district participated.
ffCampus or Campus Program Charters
A board of trustees of a school district or the governing
body of a home-rule school district is authorized by
statute to grant a charter for a campus or a program on
campus to parents and teachers if requested by a petition
signed by either a majority of the parents of the students
at that school campus or a majority of the teachers at
that school campus. A student’s parent or guardian
has the right to choose whether the child is enrolled in
a campus or campus program charter. The Education
Code prohibits a school from assigning a student to a
campus or campus program charter or from assigning a
teacher to a campus program charter if the teacher has
signed a written statement that the teacher does not agree
to the assignment. The campus or campus program
charter has the powers granted to school districts.
Page 6 October 2008