HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR INTERVIEW WITH STARLEE COLEMAN, CEO OF TEXAS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS ASSOCIATION

Q: Lone Star Standard

How are public charter schools different from other public schools? 

A: Starlee Coleman

The easiest way to think about a charter school, for people who are not super familiar, is that we are public schools in every sense of the word. We are free. We are open to any student who wants to enroll and follow all of the same accountability and good government standards that school district schools have to follow. We have to meet the same state standards, we take the same state tests, and have the same graduation requirements. All of those things are the same. 

There are two main differences though for charter schools. One example is a magnet school, where kids can take a test and go to a school in their school district that focuses on specific subjects, like math and science. Charter schools, like a magnet school, are allowed to have a specific and unique mission for their school. But a charter school cannot require kids to take a test. There are no admission standards but it is a mission-driven school, maybe a math and science school or a classical school. Many families are looking for classical education these days. A Montessori school or a Waldof school, something that can provide a very specific approach to education. Charter schools are allowed to have those specific missions. 

The other main difference, which is the really big difference, is that in Texas, all charter schools are nonprofit organizations. The nonprofit board of directors manages the charter schools in Texas. For non-charter public schools, people run for school board. In a charter school, the board is not elected but is selected based on the expertise that they bring to the table to be part of a nonprofit board of directors.

Q: Lone Star Standard

What are the accountability standards for Charter schools in Texas? 

A: Starlee Coleman

Charter schools are held accountable in a couple of unique ways. I mentioned before that charter schools overall have to meet the same sort of standards as every other public has to meet in Texas. The students have to take the STAAR Test or other required tests and they have to meet the same graduation requirements. All of those requirements are the same for charters as ISD schools. 

Charter schools, in addition, are held uniquely accountable because we have a law on the books in Texas that says if a charter school does not perform either academically or financially for three years in a row, it is closed down. If a school is not serving kids, if the kids can’t read and they’re not learning math, why should that school stay open, right? The job of a school is not to provide adults with employment. It is to teach children. And if they’re not doing that, the school shouldn’t be around. Those kids should be put in an environment where they will learn and have the skills they need to be successful in the world after school. 

There is a very high bar for charter performance in Texas. There is only one state in the country that has a higher bar and that’s Florida. We have a two-strikes law, which is really tough. A charter school has three years to get it together, to get those kids up to snuff, reading on grade level, doing math on grade level or that is it. So, it’s a high standard but it’s the right one. Kids deserve to be in an environment where they’re going to learn. And the idea that we just kick the can down the road and let schools stay open forever when we have a demonstrated track record that those schools are not serving kids is unacceptable to me as a mom. 

Q: Lone Star Standard

What is the process for getting a charter school approved in Texas? 

A: Starlee Coleman

I will try to give you the Cliff Notes version of how a charter school comes to be. The approval process takes about two years in Texas. The first step in the process is filling out the application. The average charter school application is about 500 pages long. So, a school starting from scratch in Texas spends an entire year preparing the application for submission. The application tells the Texas Education Agency and the State Board of Education how they are going to comply with state and federal education laws, what they are going to teach, what books kids will read, what curriculum will be used, how students will spend their time, how students will get to school, who will be the board of directors, who is going to run the school. They tell them everything. 

The next step in the process is for a panel of blind, independent external reviewers to review the application and ask - has this school checked all the boxes, answered all the questions? Are they going to be able to successfully run a school? A proposed school must make it through this external review panel first. The proposed school has to meet a certain score on that part of the evaluation standard in order to move to the next step. On average, only 25% of applications submitted to the state make it out of the external review process. 

The next step is for all the experts and the department leaders at the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the regulatory body that governs public schools, to evaluate the application and score the application. Then, the proposed school goes in front of a panel of these leaders for a day-long interview where they are grilled on every single detail. And from there, typically another half of the applications are declined. 

Then, the Commissioner of Education evaluates the remaining applications that have made it past the TEA capacity standard. The Commissioner decides if the remaining schools would be a good addition to the array of public schools in that community or not. The Commissioner makes recommendations on which new schools should be awarded and those recommendations go forward to the State Board of Education, where the interview process starts all over again, and the decision-making is at the complete discretion of the State Board of Education. They could deny a school for any reason at all. They could deny a school because they don’t like the person who is going to lead it. Or they could deny a school because, and this happens all the time, a State Board of Education Member is personal friends with the leader of an ISD where the school wants to locate. And  so a school gets vetoed. So there’s no standard at all for whether or not the State Board of Education approves or vetoes a recommended charter school application. 

Starlee Coleman is an entrepreneur, strategist, and CEO of Texas Public Charter Schools Association.

This interview transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Listen to the full discussion here: https://texas-talks.simplecast.com/episodes/ep-8-starlee-coleman