Charter schools are mentioned briefly in San Antonio Magazine‘s 2012 Education Guide:
According to the National Education Association, charter schools are publicly funded elementary or secondary schools that have been freed from some of the rules, regulations and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school’s charter. “Bonham Academy prepares students for future success by empowering them with a well-rounded, solid academic foundation emphasizing multiple languages, the fine arts and science.”—Janet Perez, principal of San Antonio ISD charter school Bonham Academy, pre-K–8
“Vocab Lessons”, Elizabeth Guajardo, San Antonio Magazine, July-August 2012.
The magazine lists Janet Perez as the principal of Bonham Academy. (Note: The school’s website currently lists its principal as Patricia Ortiz.) Perez refers to the National Education Association’s definition of charter schools.
There are many wonderful things about Bonham Academy, including its outstanding community supporters at Friends of Bonham. However, Bonham is not representative of most charter schools in San Antonio. Bonham is an in-district charter school that operates within a traditional public school district. Other examples of in-district charters are Hawthorne Academy in San Antonio ISD and IDEA Allan, opening this month in Austin ISD.
Most charter schools in San Antonio are open enrollment charter schools.* They are authorized by the Texas Education Agency to operate independently of traditional public school districts. To learn more about open enrollment charter schools in Texas, see “What is a Charter School?” at the Texas Charter School Association’s website, or “Learn the Lingo” at the website for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
For next year’s Education Guide, San Antonio Magazine should choose a more representative example of a charter school: an open enrollment charter school.
* To get a feel for just how many open enrollment charter schools are operating in San Antonio, visit the Texas Charter Schools Association’s Find a Charter School map and search within a 25 mile radius of “San Antonio.”
