Parent empowerment includes giving parents access to the learning environment that best serves their children. Parents should have the widest possible choices—be it traditional public schools, public charter schools, private schools, or homeschooling.
Public charter schools are very popular with Texas families: 375,000 Texas children attend these schools. Unfortunately, 66,000 more children are on waitlists for these schools because there are not enough charter school seats.
A key reason there aren’t enough seats is that the State Board of Education (SBOE) has vetoed many of the applications of teachers and school leaders who want to open schools and serve Texas children. Last year, the SBOE vetoed 80% of the applicants.
In the June SBOE meeting, K-12 Policy Analyst Matthew McCormick offers testimony in support of the 2022-23 charter applicants.