VERIFY: Yes, Texas education money can go toward out-of-state charter schools

Thousands of people on social media questioned the legality of using Texas educational funds for out-of-state charter schools.

HOUSTON — Thousands of people across social media platforms questioned the legality of shifting Texas educational funds to go toward charter schools outside of the state. The comments included questions directly to KHOU are reaction to a news report alleging the charter school system, which current HISD Superintendent Mike Miles founded, used Texas education dollars to support charter schools in Colorado.

Miles was CEO of Third Future Schools until his state appointment to HISD in the summer of 2023.

THE QUESTION

Is it legal for out-of-state charter school systems to use Texas educational money?

THE SOURCES

Texas Education Agency
Texas Public Charter Schools Association
University of Houston - Education Research Center
Third Future Schools

THE ANSWER

Yes, it is legal for out-of-state charter school systems to use Texas educational money.

WHAT WE FOUND

Third Future Schools currently operates in Texas solely through partnerships with independent school districts (ISD). Texas Education Agency (TEA) refers to these partnerships as "1882 Partnerships." The KHOU 11 Verify Team learned from Dr. Toni Templeton of the University of Houston Education Research Center, that these partnerships fall into two different categories.

The first handles innovation partnership schools. The TEA said the deal applies to school districts that have a range of acceptable to unacceptable accountability ratings.

The school district uses the partnership to launch new alternative efforts to improve student performance.

In contrast, the TEA second 1882 Partnership is called "turnaround partnerships", this method is reserved for school districts that have student performance ranked as 'unacceptable' from the previous school year.

According to the Texas Education Agency (TEA), charter schools that operate with a "turnaround 1882 partnership" do not receive money directly from the state, but rather get funds from the contract with their ISD partner.

TEA commissioner Mike Morath confirms in a letter to lawmakers obtained by the KHOU 11 Verify Team, that Third Future Schools operates in Texas with the authority granted by performance contracts signed with Texas independent school districts.

The University of Houston Education Research Center looked extensively into how these 1882 partnerships impacted Texas.

In a phone call with the KHOU 11 Verify Team, one of the researchers for the report, Dr. Toni Templeton, said the contracts between the charter school and the school district may not always be publicly available. According to Templeton, the contract called a "performance contract" sets all the ground rules and expectations. The contract could include terms ranging from how the districts' funds are allocated to final expectations.

1882 Partnerships was first created in Texas in 2017. As outlined in the UH Report, the process to approve a partnership starts with the school districts reaching out to the TEA. The TEA notifies the district of their eligibility to agree with an outside entity to improve student performance.

The TEA keeps a current list of schools with 1882 Partnerships, click here.