Time to expand school choice

Expanding school choice would give many families the options they want for their children’s education. It could also help alleviate some state and local education funding problems.
The lingering recession is affecting many Texas public schools, which are battling revenue shortfalls. Many have been loath to raise their tax rates, since property owners, who are dealing with their own economic problems, have made it clear they can ill afford higher tax bills.

Many families clearly would prefer to opt out of the public school systems entirely.
The Texas Education Agency has told school districts they need to trim their budgets by a combined $260 million to deal with projected shortfalls. The state last week formally asked for its share of federal “stimulus” money — projected to be around $830 million — even though its receipt is uncertain since Gov. Rick Perry announced he can’t promise to maintain education and social funding levels the bill demands of this state. He doesn’t have the legal authority to make such promises. Only the legislature does, and it is constitutionally bound to maintain a balanced budget.

Public school officials are desperate for such money — especially in South Texas, which is one of the nation’s fastest-growing regions. That growth is clearly seen in schools districts, which frequently have to build new schools to accommodate rapidly expanding enrollments. Every school costs tens of millions of dollars, and millions more to fill them with furniture, teachers and staff.

All told, state and local taxpayers pay more than $11,000 for every student enrolled in a Texas public school. And the schools still have trouble meeting their budgets.

Families also feel the strain of taxation; many have said they wish they could enroll their children in private schools, but they can’t afford to. After all, they would have to pay private school tuition in addition to the public school taxes they still have to pay. Growing numbers of families and advocates are calling for vouchers, tax breaks or other ways to help families give their children the education they want.

Increasingly, they’re choosing to keep their children home. The Texas Home School Coalition reports that more than 300,000 Texas children are being schooled at home, a 20 percent increase in the past five years.

Another 130,000 attend charter schools, which have many features of private schools, including greater accountability, even though they are state-funded. Hundreds of thousands more are on charter school waiting lists, but those students can’t get in because lawmakers capped the number of charters at 215. Several school owners have more than one campus under the same charter, so 387 schools are available throughout the state.
That’s woefully low for a state this size.

Studies already show that many students do better in the smaller charter schools than at large public campuses. And the cost to educate them is significantly lower — $6,600 per student. Smaller schools have lower administrative costs, since they have smaller staffs. Many operate in abandoned retail buildings or other facilities, avoiding many large expenses that smother large school districts.

Another bill to expand charter schools will likely meet the Legislature when it convenes in January. We trust that they will see the sense in allowing such expansion. The public wants the option, and they have proven their worth.

Besides, given our current economic problems, they can ill afford not to do it.