88R10134 MM-F
By: Dorazio H.B. No. 3101
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of professional charter academies.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to increase efficiency
by providing highly qualified education professionals an
opportunity to:
(1) operate an educational institution and function
independently;
(2) have access to property rights and the rewards
inherent in those rights that are similar to those rights and
rewards available to other professionals; and
(3) innovate and create educational programs tailored
specifically to the students enrolled in a professional charter
academy.
SECTION 2. Chapter 12, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter F to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER F. PROFESSIONAL CHARTER ACADEMY PROGRAM
Sec. 12.201. PROFESSIONAL CHARTER ACADEMY PROGRAM; RULES.
(a) The comptroller, in coordination with the commissioner, shall
establish a professional charter academy program under which
eligible education professionals are authorized to create and
operate a professional charter academy in accordance with this
subchapter.
(b) The comptroller, in coordination with the commissioner,
shall adopt rules to administer this subchapter. The rules must
include provisions relating to prevention of fraud and abuse in
financial transactions under the professional charter academy
program.
Sec. 12.202. ELIGIBLE EDUCATION PROFESSIONALS. (a) To be
eligible to operate a professional charter academy under this
subchapter, an education professional must:
(1) have at least three years of classroom teaching
experience;
(2) have been rated as proficient or higher for at
least three years under the evaluation system used to evaluate the
professional; or
(3) have served as the principal of a school for at
least three years.
(b) A professional charter academy must be operated by at
least one eligible education professional and be formed as a
corporation governed under Title 2, Business Organizations Code.
Sec. 12.203. APPLICATION OF LAWS. A professional charter
academy is subject only to federal and state laws applicable to
schools accredited by an organization that is monitored and
approved by the Texas Private School Accreditation Commission. A
professional charter academy is not subject to state law applicable
to charter schools authorized by law other than this subchapter.
Sec. 12.204. INITIAL FUNDING. An education professional
eligible under Section 12.202 is responsible for securing initial
capital from sources other than public funding for the
establishment of a professional charter academy. The comptroller
may not provide any public or state funding to an eligible education
professional operating a professional charter academy during the
first 12 months of operation of the academy.
Sec. 12.205. GRANTING OF CHARTER. The comptroller shall
grant a charter to operate a professional charter academy to an
education professional eligible under Section 12.202 if the
professional provides to the comptroller:
(1) a viable business plan;
(2) proof of financial ability to fund 12 months of the
academy's anticipated operation expenses, presented in the form of
a bank letter of credit or other acceptable financial guarantee;
and
(3) demonstration of parental and community interest
in the establishment of a professional charter academy.
Sec. 12.206. PUBLIC FUNDING. (a) Funding under this
section may only be provided for a school year after the first full
school year in which a professional charter academy is in
operation.
(b) For each school year after the first school year in
which a professional charter academy is in operation, the
comptroller shall provide to a student who will attend the academy
or the student's parent an amount equal to the average state funding
per student received by open-enrollment charter schools under
Subchapter D during the preceding school year. The student or the
student's parent may assign the funding received under this section
to the academy the student attends. The comptroller may adjust the
amount provided in accordance with the student's period of actual
enrollment in the academy during the school year.
(c) The comptroller shall provide the funding under
Subsection (b) to the student, to the student's parent, or, if the
funding has been assigned to the professional charter academy, to
the academy, not later than the 90th day after the date the
comptroller receives enrollment data reports from the academy at
the end of each school year for which the academy is eligible for
funding under this section.
(d) Federal funds and money from the available school fund
may not be used to make payments under this subchapter.
Sec. 12.207. ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS. (a) Notwithstanding
Section 12.206(b), the comptroller may deduct a percentage of each
payment provided under that subsection to cover the comptroller's
costs in implementing and administering the program. The
percentage deducted from each payment may not exceed the lesser of:
(1) the pro rata cost of the program in the applicable
year; or
(2) two percent of the amount of each payment.
(b) This section expires September 1, 2033.
SECTION 3. (a) The constitutionality and other validity
under the state or federal constitution of all or any part of
Subchapter F, Chapter 12, Education Code, as added by this Act, may
be determined in an action for declaratory judgment in a district
court in Travis County under Chapter 37, Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, except that this section does not authorize an award
of attorney's fees against this state and Section 37.009, Civil
Practice and Remedies Code, does not apply to an action filed under
this section.
(b) An appeal of a declaratory judgment or order, however
characterized, of a district court, including an appeal of the
judgment of an appellate court, holding or otherwise determining
that all or any part of Subchapter F, Chapter 12, Education Code, as
added by this Act, is constitutional or unconstitutional, or
otherwise valid or invalid, under the state or federal constitution
is an accelerated appeal.
(c) If the judgment or order is interlocutory, an
interlocutory appeal may be taken from the judgment or order and is
an accelerated appeal.
(d) A district court in Travis County may grant or deny a
temporary or otherwise interlocutory injunction or a permanent
injunction on the grounds of the constitutionality or
unconstitutionality, or other validity or invalidity, under the
state or federal constitution of all or any part of Subchapter F,
Chapter 12, Education Code, as added by this Act.
(e) There is a direct appeal to the Texas Supreme Court from
an order, however characterized, of a trial court granting or
denying a temporary or otherwise interlocutory injunction or a
permanent injunction on the grounds of the constitutionality or
unconstitutionality, or other validity or invalidity, under the
state or federal constitution of all or any part of Subchapter F,
Chapter 12, Education Code, as added by this Act.
(f) The direct appeal is an accelerated appeal.
(g) This section exercises the authority granted by Section
3-b, Article V, Texas Constitution.
(h) The filing of a direct appeal under this section will
automatically stay any temporary or otherwise interlocutory
injunction or permanent injunction granted in accordance with this
section pending final determination by the Texas Supreme Court,
unless the supreme court makes specific findings that the applicant
seeking such injunctive relief has pleaded and proved that:
(1) the applicant has a probable right to the relief it
seeks on final hearing; and
(2) the applicant will suffer a probable injury that
is imminent and irreparable, and that the applicant has no other
adequate legal remedy.
(i) An appeal under this section, including an
interlocutory, accelerated, or direct appeal, is governed, as
applicable, by the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, including
Rules 25.1(d)(6), 26.1(b), 28.1, 28.3, 32.1(g), 37.3(a)(1),
38.6(a) and (b), 40.1(b), and 49.4.
SECTION 4. As soon as practicable, but not later than
October 15, 2023, the comptroller of public accounts, in
coordination with the commissioner of education, shall establish
the professional charter academy program as required under
Subchapter F, Chapter 12, Education Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.