SAN ANTONIO – School choice continues making headlines lately and there are several bills relating to it filed in the Texas Legislature.
Supporters say the term doesn't mean the same to everyone.
For public charter schools like KIPP San Antonio, school choice means closing a funding gap.
"We're in a position where any dollar we spend on facilities funding has to come out the same bucket that we use to pay for teachers, that we use to buy books and desks and traditional public schools, that is not their reality," KIPP San Antonio CEO Mark Larson said.
On average, public charter school students receive $1,400 less in public funding than traditional public school students, according to a press release from Republican Sen. Donna Campbell's office. Campbell represents District 25 and is a member of the Senate Education Committee.
This year, for the first time ever, bills filed in both the Texas House and Senate address the funding gap issue, according to a spokeswoman from the Texas Charter School Association. However, HB 1269 and SB 457 differ in the way lawmakers look to narrow the gap.
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Public charter schools battle is much different than a private school choice bill filed Monday, SB 3.
"This session I have filed Senate Bill 3 to establish two programs, an education savings account program and a tax credit scholarship program because I want to maximize choices for parents and students," Senate Committee on Education Chairman Sen. Larry Taylor said Monday.
"Vouchers don't have anything to do with us," Larson said. "We are, as a public school, in order to access ESA through SB 3, somebody would have to opt out of the public school system. We are neither benefited nor harmed by SB 3 so we do not have a position on that."
San Antonio Independent School District released the following statement when asked about SB 457, which aims to cut the funding gap in half:
This session it does not appear as though there is going to be any new revenue for education. Therefore, if charter schools gain facilities funding through SB 457, then we will likely lose funding. In this budget environment, we cannot support the bill.
Another opponent of providing charter schools with facilities funding is the Texas Association of School Administrators, which emailed a statement that read:
TASA opposes additional funding for charter schools until the legislature appropriately funds the programs, services and expectations required by the state of traditional public schools.
Gov. Greg Abbott's budget proposal released Tuesday includes funding to assist charter schools in meeting the needs of Texas students through increasing facility funds.