Dive Brief:
- The Texas Board of Education approved a proposal allowing board members to visit charter school networks that want to open schools in Texas.
- The trips will be paid for by private foundations and donors, leading some to believe there will be a bias when deciding what charter schools to approve.
- Texas recently raised its cap on charter schools from 215 to 305 schools by 2019.
Dive Insight:
Many paying attention to the Education Board's decision believe the trips should be paid for with public funds to ensure a lack of bias.
“In our mind it’s a clear conflict of interest,” Texans for Public Justice Executive Director Craig McDonald told NBC affiliate KXAN. “If there’s a real need to travel to evaluate these schools, it should be paid for by public institutions.”
In reality, however, where the money comes from is probably secondary to whether or not there is a charter bias. If people are going to be swayed one way or another, that is probably going to happen regardless of where the money is coming from.