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Mike Morath, the Texas Commissioner of Education, initiated the most significant school takeover in recent memory in June. Following seven consecutive years of failing to meet state educational standards, one of the Houston Independent School District’s over 270 schools, the governing board, and the superintendent were ousted under his command.
Despite receiving a passing score from the state during its last rating assignment, Houston’s Wheatley High School found itself facing the determination of Morath. He asserted that, in accordance with the law, he was obligated to either shut down the campus or replace the board. Ultimately, he opted for the latter option.
According to him, the need for significant intervention at Houston ISD was not solely due to persistent low performance, but also because the state consistently appointed a conservator to oversee academic improvements in troubled districts.
However, Morath has been more lenient in the case of charter school networks that fail to meet academic standards.
Morath has consistently granted charters the authority to expand their operations, even if they have not met the necessary academic standards, since assuming office over seven years ago. A joint analysis conducted by ProPublica and Texas Tribune of state records reveals that Morath has waived expansion requirements for charter networks with numerous failing campuses on at least 17 occasions. Additionally, the state’s education leader has issued five additional waivers in situations where the charter had a mix of failing schools and campuses that were either exclusively serving high-risk populations or had students too young to undergo testing.
According to the Texas Education Agency, prior to Morath, only three performance waivers had been granted. Morath declined numerous requests for comment, and it was revealed that all three waivers had been issued by his immediate predecessor.
Eastex-Jensen Neighborhood School, located 6 miles north of Wheatley High School, was established thanks to a waiver granted by Morath. Despite opening in 2019, Eastex did not receive any official ratings for its initial two years, as the state had halted all school evaluations due to the pandemic’s detrimental effects. However, in 2022, during the most recent round of state assessments, Eastex received a failing score of 48 out of 100 according to the state’s accountability framework. Nevertheless, the state decided not to impose penalties on campuses that performed poorly that year.
Kevin Welner, an education policy professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, expressed his astonishment at the overwhelming hypocrisy. He pointed out that the education commissioner, who had previously justified assuming control of the entire Houston school district solely based on one school’s outdated academic ratings, was now displaying a contradictory stance.
Publicly funded charter schools in Texas were granted a reprieve from certain state regulations imposed on traditional public schools in 1995 by the Texas Legislature. This exemption was given in exchange for implementing innovative practices aimed at achieving academic excellence.
In addition to the flexibility, there are now stringent accountability measures in place. As per state regulations, charters are obligated to shut down if they fail for three consecutive years. Moreover, for a charter network to expand, 90% of its campuses must attain passing grades in the latest academic year. Previously, a rule that was discarded in 2017 stated that charter networks could not expand if any of their campuses received the lowest rating from the state.
The rules can be waived by the commissioner, and in the case of Texas College Preparatory Academies, the charter network that Eastex belongs to, Morath has consistently done so.
Jake Kobersky, spokesperson for the Texas Education Agency, addressed concerns regarding Morath’s approval of waivers for charter schools that failed to meet the state’s academic standards. Kobersky stated that the majority of charter school expansions do not necessitate waivers. However, for those that do, the agency undertakes a comprehensive evaluation process. This evaluation encompasses an assessment of all campuses within the charter school’s portfolio and an examination of the requestor’s strategies to resolve any issues present at these campuses, which led to the need for a waiver.
According to the statement, obtaining a waiver is only the initial phase in the expansion process. Once a charter operator receives a waiver from Morath, they are required to seek explicit permission from him in order to proceed with their expansion plans. Out of the 17 waivers that Morath granted to charters facing excessive failing campuses, 12 of them were subsequently approved for expansion.
Todd Ziebarth, the senior vice president of state advocacy and support for the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools, a nonprofit organization that promotes charter growth nationwide, expressed that only charter networks with exceptional performance and established success should be permitted to expand.
Ziebarth stated that ultimately, the key question is whether a charter school is effectively enhancing and advancing student outcomes within their community. If the answer is negative, then they are failing to fulfill their obligations under the charter agreement and should not be granted permission to enroll more students. According to Ziebarth, he has never come across a situation where a state has waived their own criteria for school expansion.
David DeMatthews, a professor and education policy researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, expressed concerns about the granting of waivers to charter networks with numerous failing schools. He raised these concerns as lawmakers convened in Austin for a special session of the Legislature, where they were considering providing state funding for private school tuition to Texas parents.
The creation of a school voucher-like program has become a top priority for Gov. Greg Abbott, who appointed Morath. The governor discussed the importance of parental choice during a campaign event last year at a charter campus run by Texas College Preparatory Academies, which is managed by Responsive Education Solutions. The Texas-based charter management organization has made headlines for teaching creationism and for its involvement in a failed effort to create a statewide private school voucher program in partnership with a small public school district in Central Texas.
Written questions sent to both Abbott and Responsive Education, the designated media contact for Texas College Preparatory Academies, went unanswered. Additionally, Eastex officials did not provide a comment in response to the request.
According to DeMatthews, as legislators discuss the possibility of directing taxpayer funds towards private schools, they must take into account the state’s limited capacity to adequately monitor and regulate charter schools in terms of academics and finances.
DeMatthews expressed his concerns, stating that examining charters as a possible indicator of how vouchers would be implemented in Texas is troubling. He further added that vouchers would result in even lower transparency.
“Incredibly hypocritical”
In June 2021, Morath emphasized the consequences for underperforming charter schools while advocating for the approval of a new round. As charter schools enjoy greater flexibility from state regulations, they are held to rigorous academic standards that necessitate closure before traditional schools or restrict their expansion. Morath stated that charters must either meet these standards or pursue alternative career paths, such as banking.
According to Morath, charter organizations aiming to expand are obligated to undergo a comprehensive evaluation consisting of four criteria: academic, financial, and operational performance. Only upon successfully meeting these requirements can they be permitted to cater to additional students. Morath conveyed to the State Board of Education that failure to pass this evaluation implies a denial of expansion.
Some members of the board are concerned about Morath repeatedly waiving those rules. The board has no authority over the expansion of charters, even though the growth of existing networks is the main factor driving charter growth in the state. Last academic year, over 7% of the state’s 5.5 million schoolchildren were enrolled in state-authorized charter schools.
Pat Hardy, a longstanding Republican board member for over two decades, expressed his belief that providing waivers to charter networks with even a single underperforming school contradicts the original purpose of the legislation that created these networks.
Hardy expressed his disbelief during an interview with ProPublica and the Tribune, stating, “This is absolutely absurd. Why would we continue to adopt a system that has proven to be ineffective?”
Morath was defended by Brian Whitley, a representative of the Texas Public Charter Schools Association. Whitley stated that the commissioner should possess the authority to waive the regulations dictating the minimum number of campuses for charter expansion, as they are established by his agency and are unnecessarily stringent compared to legal requirements.
According to Katrina Bulkley, an education professor at Montclair State University in New Jersey, who has researched charter schools since 1995, these rules exist for a purpose, and the state should either adhere to them or modify them.
As a consequence of Morath’s waivers, 11 schools were established, and among them, three initially received an “unacceptable” rating within their first two years. However, all of these schools have since made significant improvements. In the most recent year, Eastex and another campus obtained scores that would typically classify them as low-performing. Nonetheless, due to the pandemic, the state did not evaluate these schools during that particular year.
As a result of the waivers granted by Morath, Texas College Preparatory Academies, including Eastex, has opened the highest number of schools. Despite having numerous failing campuses, the network received two waivers. Additionally, when the combined count of underperforming and not rated schools brought it below the passing threshold, the network was also granted waivers.
Morath’s recent approval of the waiver for the 42-campus charter network has brought them closer to their goal of opening three new schools and expanding approximately 20 existing ones in the next two years.
In addition, charters associated with KIPP Public Schools have obtained different waivers, despite one of them being advised against by state education agency officials.
In a March 2017 memorandum, the head of TEA’s charter school division recommended that Morath deny a waiver request from KIPP Dallas-Fort Worth because only one of its three campuses had met academic standards. Less than two weeks after the recommendation, TEA notified KIPP D-FW that it had been approved for the waiver, making the charter eligible to increase its student enrollment.
In 2018, KIPP brought together its four distinct charter networks in Texas under one umbrella. The subsequent year, KIPP encountered a mix of underperforming and unrated campuses, prompting the need to request a waiver for expansion. Once again, Morath approved the waiver.
KIPP Texas spokesperson, Cat Thorne, stated in a written statement that the network has consistently adhered to the guidelines provided by the TEA when evaluating school expansions. Thorne mentioned that due to the merger, the network does not possess records from before the merger, resulting in their lack of awareness regarding the previous recommendations made by agency staff against granting a waiver.
The statement declared that all expansions we asked for and were given were in full compliance with TEA rules. It emphasized that our aim for growth is driven by the welfare of our students and the communities we cater to.
Shay Green’s son attended pre-K at KIPP Legacy Preparatory in Houston last year, a campus that is deemed low-performing under state standards with a latest grade of 69 out of 100.
According to Green, she first enrolled her son in the school based on her mother’s suggestion. Her mother had thoroughly researched local campuses and believed it would be a suitable choice. However, Green later discovered that her cousin’s children, attending public school, were already proficient in writing their letters and names. Consequently, she made the decision to withdraw her son after just one year, as she perceived the educational standards to be lacking.
Green expressed in a text message to the news organizations, “I taught my son how to spell his name. However, I had higher expectations for his knowledge compared to public school children of his age. It was evident that they were not being taught nearly as much.”
A comment request made to the school remained unanswered, and KIPP Texas did not provide any response to inquiries regarding the campus.
According to Green, her son is currently enrolled in a magnet charter school which she believes offers a more robust education.
Little oversight
The authority over whether to allow charters to expand used to belong to the 15-member elected State Board of Education. But the Legislature transferred that power to the state’s education commissioner in 2001. More recently, it repealed a provision in state law that appeared to conflict with that earlier change.
The board has in recent years unsuccessfully asked the Legislature to restore its authority over charter growth.
“In my opinion, many of my coworkers would be more inclined to initially approve or abstain from vetoing charters if they were aware that they would have the opportunity to provide additional input on expansions at a later stage. Currently, once we grant approval, we simply step out of the process,” stated Keven Ellis, the Republican chair of the state education board, during an interview. “Having greater authority in the future would undoubtedly offer us a sense of reassurance.”
Over the years, rather than enhancing the board’s authority, the Legislature has chosen to allocate additional power to the education commissioner.
Republican state Sen. Paul Bettencourt of Houston, who filed unsuccessful legislation that would have removed the board’s veto power over new charters in the state, doesn’t believe the elected body should have authority over expansions because members aren’t paid and have large districts to represent and other responsibilities like approving textbooks.
Bettencourt, a Senate Education Committee member, expressed his limited knowledge about Morath’s decision to waive academic performance requirements for expansions. However, he refrained from stating his support or opposition towards this practice. Bettencourt emphasized the importance of evaluating the future performance of the charters that received the waivers before forming a definitive opinion.
He pondered, “Why not if we fail to witness progress over time?”
Currently, Bettencourt and his colleagues are primarily directing their attention towards the upcoming frontier of “school choice,” which involves providing taxpayer funds to parents for the purpose of financing private school education.
Earlier this year, despite Abbott’s support, several bills aimed at establishing a program were unable to pass during the regular session in the Texas House due to opposition. Among these bills was one co-authored by Bettencourt and eight other senators. A key issue of disagreement has been the method by which the state can guarantee improved student outcomes through the utilization of taxpayer funds for this program.
Last month, Abbott participated in a tele-town hall with religious leaders, where he made a commitment to hold lawmakers accountable if they oppose the establishment of a voucher-like program. He hinted that their votes would have repercussions in the upcoming Republican primary election.
Abbott stated that there are two approaches to completing the task – an easy way and a hard way. He mentioned that the legislators can opt for the easy way by supporting school choice in the upcoming special session. However, if they choose the hard way, Abbott reassured that they are willing to pursue that route as well.
Disclosure: Texas Public Charter Schools Association and University of Texas at Austin have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
