I’ve been following the progress of SB2, a bill that would make big changes to charter school laws in Texas, including raising the charter cap. This post is about the bill’s introduction in February; this post is about Senator Dan Patrick‘s visit to IDEA Carver last Friday to promote the bill.
On Tuesday, the Senate Education Committee voted 7-0 to send the bill to the full Senate. (Senator Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio) was one of two abstentions.) “Amended charter school bill advances”, Lindsay Kastner, San Antonio Express-News, March 26, 2013.
The version that left the committee has these changes:
- The bill would not end the charter cap, but would allow a set number of new charters each year, and would have exceptions for high-performing out-of-state CMOs, for dropout-recovery charter schools, and for charter schools for special needs students.
- The bill would not create an independent charter authorizing board, but would put decisions in the hands of the Commissioner of Education (currently, the State Board of Education makes decisions about new charter applications) and make it easier to close under-performing charter schools.
