蜜桃影视

In the city鈥檚 Third Ward, Nikki Knight鈥檚 sixth-grade daughter, Dreu, attends class in a temporary, modular building that has so little parking nearby that parents sometimes miss events or teacher meetings because they can鈥檛 find a place to leave their cars. Dreu loves dancing and performed in the KIPP Liberation College Prep talent show in December. But because the school has no auditorium or stage, rehearsals were held in the cafeteria, which doubles as a performance space for the school鈥檚 400 students. The students, Knight said, could also use a larger library.

鈥淭he waiting list is long because it鈥檚 a great campus, [but] the kids, I believe, are a little bit limited in what they鈥檙e able to do because they don鈥檛 have a full experience because the campus doesn鈥檛 allow for that,鈥� said Knight, whose three other children attend both charter and district schools. 鈥淚n some instances, you give up facility for the benefits that charter schools offer. You give up space for academic exposure, academic opportunity.鈥�

Using modular classrooms or repurposing existing buildings for charter schools is not unusual in Texas because by law, charters don鈥檛 have the access to state and local funding for constructing new schools that local independent school districts have.

Charter operators and school choice advocates are hoping to change some of that this legislative session, which begins January 10. But since the Texas Legislature meets for only 140 days every two years, if charter schools are to get the facilities funding they need to meet growing demand, they鈥檒l have to work fast.

The building of YES Prep West in Houston, Texas.

Photo: Courtesy of Yes Prep Public Schools

Parents, charter operators and advocates say the nearly nonexistent funding that Texas currently provides for facilities has hamstrung their rapidly growing networks. While some charters, like YES Prep, have found creative ways to expand, others struggle to scrape together resources to accommodate the thousands of students lined up to attend.

鈥淭he largest inequity for charter schools is the lack of facilities funding,鈥� David Dunn, executive director of the Texas Charter Schools Association, told the in July. 鈥淚n 2013鈥�2014, ISDs received $5.5 billion in facilities funding. Charter schools received $0.鈥�

Unlike traditional school districts in the state, charters don鈥檛 have local property-tax bases to draw from for building new schools or funding renovations. They don鈥檛 get state funding for that purpose, either, unlike regular districts, which received $6.3 billion in state facilities funding in 2015鈥�16, a Texas Education Agency spokeswoman said.

Traditional districts can get local tax revenue to cover debt service on bonds sold to build school facilities, as well as state aid to help poor districts with those debt service payments, she said. But charter schools in Texas get just $250 per pupil from the state for costs associated with opening a new facility, such as purchasing furniture 鈥� not for actual construction, and only for two years after the facility opens.

鈥淭hat has put us into a position with less funding. The only way we can continue to grow is to work specifically on fundraising and philanthropy,鈥� said Keith Weaver, managing director of operations for YES Prep, which has 16 schools in Houston.

The other main source of support is a program offered as part of the Permanent School Fund, in which the state guarantees bonds issued by charter schools and school districts for building costs, and helps ensure reasonable interest rates, thanks to Texas鈥檚 sterling AAA credit rating.

鈥淲e鈥檙e working to get facilities funding for all charter schools, regardless of size, regardless of location,鈥� Dunn told 蜜桃影视. 鈥淲e feel like providing facilities is a fundamental necessity for providing a good education.鈥�

Several key initiatives that could advance those efforts during the 2017 legislative session in Austin:

鈥� Property tax relief: Rep. Jim Murphy has filed House Bill 382/House Joint Resolution 34, seeking to exempt charter schools that lease facilities from real property taxes for the duration of the lease.

鈥� Increased borrowing capacity for construction costs: Murphy also filed HB 467, seeking to expand the capacity of the bond guarantee program, which was created in 2014. Fourteen or so charters have maxed out the fund鈥檚 $900 million capacity, said Al McKenzie, director of state funding at the Texas Education Agency. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a relatively new program, and there has been a lot of demand for it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pent-up demand, as charter schools can now refinance previously issued debt at more favorable interest rates.鈥�

The state Board of Education approved a stopgap measure of sorts in late 2016 to expand the bond fund by $850 million in 2017, but sustaining the fund indefinitely requires legislation.

鈥� Charter school advocates are pursuing other measures that haven鈥檛 yet been introduced. One priority, Dunn said, is issuing an updated version of Senate Bill 1900, which seeks to drive tax dollars toward charter schools for facilities needs based on a per-pupil formula.

鈥擜nother hoped-for initiative would require the state to consider the financial interests of charter holders when a charter is revoked, a charter school association spokeswoman said.

The association hosted Gov. Greg Abbott at its annual conference this fall, the first time a sitting governor had attended the state鈥檚 largest gathering of charter school proponents. Before an audience of about 1,600 in Austin, Abbott complimented the 鈥渆fficiency鈥� and 鈥渆ffectiveness鈥� of the charter schools he had toured and was direct about his support for their growth, though he didn鈥檛 go into detail about facilities funding.

鈥淚t is time to open more charter schools in Texas and to fund them with the resources they need to succeed,鈥� Abbott said. 鈥淚t is time to empower all parents in Texas to choose the education pathway that is best for their child.鈥�

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at the 2016 Texas Charter Schools Conference.

Photo: Courtesy of Texas Charter Schools Association.

Another key change is the departure of Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock, Republican chairman of the House Public Education Committee, who is retiring. Aycock spent the last two sessions resisting school choice measures that groups like the charter schools association supported.

Aycock鈥檚 replacement will be selected later this month. As he was packing up his office in 2016, the House education committee was researching school choice programs at the direction of Speaker Joe Straus, who has said he will on school choice initiatives.

(蜜桃影视: After Years of Stifling School Choice in Texas, the Speaker of the House May Be Singing a Different Tune)

Charter schools may also have an ally in newly elected San Antonio Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, who co-founded a nonprofit to help at-risk youth in 1991 that became one of Texas鈥檚 first charter schools. Now known as the , it serves pre-K through 12th grade.

鈥淚 want to see how traditional public schools and public charter schools can coexist so we can educate all of our children,鈥� Gervin-Hawkins said in a radio a week before the November election.

Meanwhile, in the Texas Senate, which has passed several charter facilities funding bills in recent years 鈥� only to see them quashed in the House 鈥� Education Committee Chairman Larry Taylor believes debates over funding and a separate voucher proposal will resurface this year.

鈥淪chool choice will be one of the things we鈥檒l be discussing,鈥� he said at a previewing the 2017 session. 鈥淲hich is the best way for Texas to provide more opportunities for all of our students?鈥�