Senate panel weighs charter school funds

Partisan bickering overtook a Texas Senate education panel Thursday as it considered legislation that would — for the first time — allot state money to Texas charter schools to build new facilities.

The latest version of state Sen. Donna Campbell’s Senate Bill 1900 would entitle the state’s 182 open-enrollment charters to $113 million over the state’s upcoming two-year budget cycle — about $270 per student.

That’s more than three times lower than the original version of the New Braunfels Republican’s bill, which would have allocated $643.8 million in 2016-17, or up to $850 additional per student, a fiscal analysis said.

Despite the sizable reduction, Democrats on the Senate Education Committee expressed reluctance to allocate any more state money to charters until the Legislature fully restores the multibillion-dollar public education cuts state lawmakers imposed in 2011. The state already allocates some money to charters for general academic purposes, but does not help them with facilities costs, meaning they receive about $1,000 less per student on average.

“There are so many things we still haven’t done for public schools,” said state Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, noting schools in her district need new facilities, too. “I’m going to be about making sure that all our public schools are taken care of before I decide to start giving any funding to anybody else.”

Campbell emphasized that charters are public schools by law and de- scribed the issue as one of fairness and equity.

“I know everyone has our children’s benefit at heart and I feel that that’s what this does,” she said.

The funding reduction did not quell enthusiasm from charter school officials, who testified overwhelmingly in favor of the bill — one of their biggest legislative priorities — and thanked Campbell for filing it.

Noting their long waiting lists, officials from charter schools like NYOS and KIPP said their campuses are overcrowded and that they are forced to use money that otherwise would go toward classroom and operational expenses to build and rent new space.

“The classrooms are small, they are cramped,” said Kathleen Zimmerman, executive director of NYOS Charter School in Austin.

During the Thursday hearing, Garcia pointed out that charters raise private money, too, and said she might support Campbell’s bill if it required them to give some of that money to public schools, which rely totally on public money.

But Mike Fineberg, the co-founder of KIPP Public Charter Schools, countered that the private funds he raises are not for frills, but “to pay the light bill.”

“We think this is critical legislation,” David Dunn, executive director of the Texas Charter Schools Association, told the panel. “The charter schools have been an essential part of the public school system now for 20 years.”

Campbell’s bill was left pending Thursday.