Page 80 - Volume 4 - Issue 1 - DBU Journal of K-12 Educational Research

78 originated in 1995 with the 74th Texas Legislature, which codified rules for open enrollment charter schools (Texas Education Code, 2014). In 1996, the first 20 charters were issued and 19 schools opened during the 1997-1998 school year providing educational services to over 4,200 students. Open enrollment charter schools in Texas differ in student enrollment and school attributes from traditional public schools by legislative design. According to Booker (2006), a head-to-head comparison of the students who attended open enrollment charter schools versus those enrolled at traditional public schools finds more Black, impoverished, and at-risk students at the choice school. Traditional public schools retained a larger share of White, limited English proficient, gifted and talented, and vocational, career, and technology-interested students. The funding mechanism employed in Texas eases the creation and sustainability of open enrollment charter schools. When a Texas student moves from a traditional public school to an open enrollment charter school, per pupil state and local funding based on the student’s characteristics flows to the new campus. Texas charter schools receive a diminished share of school revenue chiefly due to facility funding. Because Texas’s open enrollment charter schools are not tethered to geographic areas, the schools do not have a tax base from which to raise revenue, nor do they participate in state facility funding programs based on local district taxes. As a result, open enrollment charter schools are strictly dependent on state and federal funds, donations, and other non-tax revenues from sources like grants, fundraisers, and the like (Taylor et al., 2011). Table 1 illustrates student demographic characteristics in open enrollment charter schools and traditional public schools in Texas in 2014. Texas Charter School Assessment Results for All Students Studies performed comparing All student data from Texas charter school students and traditional public school pupils illustrated minimally equivalent to diminished performance by charter enrollees (Betts & Tang, 2008, 2011; Center for Research on Education Outcomes [CREDO], 2009, 2013; Zimmer et al., 2009). Table 1 Texas Student Demographic Characteristics in Open Enrollment Charter Schools and Traditional Public Schools Open Enrollment Charter School Traditional Public Schools Student Groups N % N % Students Total 179,120 3.5 4,863,129 95.8 Race/Ethnicity Hispanic 99,708 55.7 2,484,189 51.1 Black 38,963 21.8 600,868 12.4 White 28,907 16.1 1,488,696 30.6 Asian 8,242 4.6 174,918 3.6 American Indian or Alaskan Native 694 0.4 21,009 0.4 Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 134 0.1 6,475 0.1 Two or more races 2,472 1.4 86,794 1.8 Program Type At Risk 80,209 44.8 2,167,866 44.6 Career and Technology Education 15,818 8.9 1,092,905 22.5 Economically Disadvantaged 125,384 70.1 2,907,331 59.8 Gifted and Talented 2,750 1.5 381,804 7.8 Limited English Proficient 33,365 18.6 824,877 17.0 Special Education 11,767 6.6 427,092 8.8 (Alexander et al., 2014) Texas Charter School Assessment Results for All Students Studies performed comparing All student data from Texas charter school students able 1. T xas Student Demographic Characteristics in Open Enrollment Charter Schools and Traditional Public Schools Buddy Bonner, EdD