KNOW THE FACTS ON CHARTER SCHOOLS
Opening charter campuses results in significant funding decreases and therefore academic and program cuts to neighborhood Independent School District (ISD) schools.
Why? Because ISDs and charter schools must share funding from the Foundation School Program.
In 2019-20 Dallas ISD funding was reduced by $270,952,500 due to charter schools.
In 2020-21 statewide in Texas $3.8 BILLION of taxpayer funding was diverted from local school districts (ISDs) to fund charter schools. Remember:
- this occurs without a single vote of local taxpayers,
- diverts funding from locally governed school districts, and
- funds a separate system of privately operated charter schools.
Critical concerns about charter schools: Spanish
1. There is no elected school board to oversee taxpayer funding - this means no elected trustee to oversee your tax dollars and no ability to vote out the trustee if you do not agree with how they are managing the school.
2. The money reduced from an ISD is financially devastating and unsustainable.
3. The student outcomes at charters are generally not better than the ISD and when comparing “apples to apples” are often worse.
4. Charter schools often under-enroll English language learners, disadvantaged and at risk students due to higher costs to educate, resulting in segregated communities and the exclusion of certain student populations.
5. Charter school practices yield concerns about educational inequity for students, such as larger class sizes, less teacher pay, higher teacher turnover, and spending more on administration and less in the classroom.
Recent Charters Approved: Dallas City Hall -January 12, 2022
--Uplift : 9743 E. RL Thornton, Dallas Tx (at I-30 and Buckner) - January 12, 2022 Item Z-27
Council members voted to approve:
Chad West, Jesse Moreno, Jaime Resendez, Adam Bazaldua, Paula Blackmon, Adam McGough, Jaynie Schultz, Cara Mendelsohn, Gay Willis, Paul Ridley.
Council members voted to deny:
Casey Thomas II, Carolyn King Arnold, Omar Narvaz, Tennell Atkins.
(Mayor Johnson was absent during the vote.)
--Golden Rule Charter: in city council district 3 - January 12, 2022. Item Z-15
Request approved to add classrooms for art, music, etc. without increased enrollment and to add childcare services. Offering childcare services and/or partnering with a childcare center has become a common practice for charters as a way to recruit desirable families.
Recent Charters Denied:
--Responsive Ed: in East Dallas (at I-30 and Buckner) - January 12, 2022. Item Z-5
A multi-state corporate charter chain planned its "drop out recovery" brand known as Premier High School, targeting high risk drop out students, credit recovery and often promoting career and technical training classes. Gov. Greg Abbott made a campaign speech on January 20, 2022 at a Responsive Ed Lewisville campuses.
--ILT: 7811 University Hills, Dallas Tx (southern Dallas near UNT) - August 11, 2021: The Dallas City Council denied the request by ILT. About the same time, Cleveland ISD in east Texas asked the Texas Education Agency for help funding much needed public school expansion, and TEA Commissioner Mike Morath sent ILT Charter schools instead. Read the article in Texas Monthly.
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STATEMENTS OPPOSING UPLIFT IN EAST DALLAS
I oppose Uplift Charter in East Dallas because the data clearly show that charter schools have the same or worse outcomes than public schools and actually harm public schools by diverting much needed money away from public schools.
I strongly oppose the Uplift charter. Our District does not need more inferior schools. We are draining resources from our traditional public school system using tax dollars to fund schools that our failing our children.
I oppose charter schools such as this one proposed by Uplift because they take funds away from PUBLIC education where we serve ALL students and not just those handpicked by the charter. I don’t believe that charters really care about the students, but rather about the money they can make!
Charter schools say that they take anyone, but the very nature of a lottery system requires family buy-in. These types of students are generally more compliant. This makes the charter appear more effective, when really, you’ve just taken the stronger kids and claim victory. The result is that you leave more vulnerable kids behind in the neighborhood schools with reduced funding. Charters are not the answer, they are making things worse. NO MORE CHARTERS.
Please don't add another charter school in our community!
Charter schools are not regulated like public schools and are a drain on the public education budget in Texas because of this deregulation. Dallas ISD is doing a great job in educating students and Charter schools often discriminate against special education and students that need the most in our communities.
They are not good neighbors and have no respect for the surrounding neighborhoods where they are located. The traffic impact on your neighborhood will never be the same as most of their students do not live in the area.
STATEMENTS OPPOSING INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP TEXAS (ILT)
IN SOUTH DALLAS
I oppose ILT expansion into South Dallas. This charter chain provides an education inferior to DISD, with fewer certified teachers. Their teachers have much less experience than DISD teachers and the ILT turnover rate is high - factors that impact the quality of education. The results speak for themselves: one in four ILT schools is failing. Plus the charter chain is highly leveraged and has been cited by TEA for its financial condition. The community does not want or need this charter school.
I am opposed to charter schools in general and to this charter school in particular as it does not have a good track record. The proliferation of charter schools will drastically weaken the traditional public schools, leading to many children being underserved. Charters are the start of privatizing the schools. This issue needs to be openly and fully debated in the public square so that all parents and citizens understand what is at stake.
There are already multiple charters near the proposed location. I assert charters, ultimately, strangle the life out of public schools (The Great Equalizer - in theory).
Increasing charter schools in Dallas will be a disservice to Dallas ISD and the students the district serves. Most charters are unproven and unaccountable for the education they provide. Our Dallas ISD schools are proven and are providing what the students of our community need.