Focus Report, Volume 87, Number 4, November 2021 Page: 10
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Page 10 House Research Organization
their discipline practices but should be prohibited from
removing students for non-disciplinary reasons, including
academic performance and attendance. In response to
those who say charters must take a tougher approach
to student discipline issues because they lack alternative
education programs for disruptive students, supporters
say that charter schools have options to work with other
charter operators or school districts to provide such
programs.
Critics ofaligning charter school disciplinary standards
with standardsfor district schools say that the different
standards for admitting students with disciplinary records
and for removing students through suspensions and
expulsions are appropriate for charter schools, many of
which are small and lack facilities for alternative education
programs. Without facilities to isolate disruptive students,
charter schools should retain flexibility to address serious
discipline problems that could compromise the safety of
students and teachers, they say. Charter schools may not
be able to access a nearby school district's disciplinary
alternative education program unless the district agrees to
accept non-district students, they say.
Critics of revising the standards for charter schools
say that some charter schools have used their flexibility
to enact their own disciplinary policies to implement
restorative discipline practices and, on average, are about
half as likely as school districts to assign students to in-
school suspensions.Limiting a charter school's discretion to ask about a
student's disciplinary history could prompt some students
to game the system by enrolling in a charter school to
avoid being placed in a school district's disciplinary
alternative education program, critics say. In addition,
legislative action is not needed, they say, now that the state
has adopted a common charter school application form
and has advised charter operators to limit any enrollment
exclusion based on discipline history to serious issues.
Accountability. The state grades charter schools and
district schools under the same academic accountability
standards, which rely heavily on the State of Texas
Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) exams. TEA
annually assigns a financial integrity rating to charters,
as it does with district schools, based on various financial
metrics, benchmarks, and operating procedures.
The education commissioner also measures the
academic, financial, and operational viability of charters
through a charter school performance framework
that is updated annually. The framework is aligned
with the Texas A-F accountability ratings, the charter
financial accountability rating system, known as FIRST,
and best practices that have been identified by the
National Association of Charter School Authorizers.
The commissioner uses the performance framework
in determining whether charter holders are eligible for
expansion and making decisions related to renewal, non-
renewal, and revocation.A-F ratings of charter and district campuses
30%
20.9%
10.2%
5,1 qt
11.5%Charter
37.6%
24.9%
7.7%
4.5%
District 5.6%fA
OB
1c
For
1 1Not ratedSource for data: Texas Education Agency, 2019 campus accountability ratings (most recent ratings)
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House Research Organization
Page 10
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Texas. Legislature. House of Representatives. Research Organization. Focus Report, Volume 87, Number 4, November 2021, periodical, November 1, 2021; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1507625/m1/10/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.