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Perspectives on Charter Schools and

Privatization in Public Schools of

Texas

Presented by

Gwen Santiago, Executive Director

Texas Association of School Business Officials

Texas Association of School Business

Officials - Austin, Texas 1

Operating Costs for School Districts

and Charter Schools

• The following slides present representative

perspectives on operating costs for ISDs and

charter schools.

• The slides present the data in pie charts that

show the percentage of operating resources

that fund the respective function code areas.



Percent Operating Expenditures Charter Schools



Percent Operating Expenditures School Districts



Percent Operating Expenditures Per Student Enrollment Less than 1,000

Selected Charter School Superintendent Base Pay

and Student EnrollmentsSource – eFACTS+ (using data from TEA)

Base Pay Student Enrollment

$ 214,167 242

$ 140,962 260

$150,000 979

$ 236,000 2,759

$ 142,500 4,078



Selected School Superintendent Base Pay and Student

Enrollments (Non-Charters)

Salaries for Superintendents in Districts of Comparable Size to Charter

Districts (previous slide) according to TASB Salary Survey


Officials - Austin, Texas7

Average Salary Enrollment

$ 85,326 1 to 499

$ 98,175 500 to 999

$ 120,764 1,600 to 2,999

$ 141,529 2,000 to 4,999

Student Performance

• How does student performance in Charter

Schools compare to student performance in

regular school districts?

• Keep in mind that a number of Charter

Schools serve student populations considered

to be disadvantaged

• Critics argue that some Charter Schools are

selective



Are Charter Schools the Answer?• Numerous Research Studies have attempted to

answer this question

– A Rand Corporation Study reports that charter-school achievement results are mixed. In Arizona, charter schools seem to be outperforming conventional public schools in reading and possibly in math. In Texas, charter schools that focus specifically on students at risk for poor academic performance show an achievement advantage over conventional public schools, but other charter schools perform slightly worse than conventional public schools.



Are Charter Schools the Answer?

– This Rand study also states that an examination of

newly opened charter schools in Michigan

indicates no difference from conventional public

schools in terms of achievement effects in one

test grade (grade 7), while conventional public

school outperform charters in the other tested

grade (grade 4). Meanwhile, the studies in both

Arizona and Texas suggest that achievement

effects in charter schools improve after the first

year of operation.




– Another Rand Corporation study on charter schools in Arizona, Boston, California, Chicago, Denver, Florida, Michigan, Milwaukee, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Texas shows that these schools do not skim the majority white students or the highest-achieving students from traditional public schools, as feared. Conversely, charter schools do not appear to produce positive competitive effects on achievement in traditional public schools, as hoped.




• The National Center for the Study of Privatization in

Education “debunks” the common perception that

traditional public schools suffer from “administrative

bloat” and that charter schools have a “leaner

administrative model, allowing for more resources to

go directly to classrooms.” The study “found that

charter schools actually spent more per-student on

administration and less on instruction than non-

charter public schools” in Michigan.



Perspectives on Privatization

• The following slides present representative

perspectives on privatization for ISDs of

various enrollment ranges.

• The slides present the data in scatter graphs.

• The ISDs on the left side of the red bar have

privatized the operational area and the ones

on the right side manage the operational area

in-house.



Perspectives on Privatization

• What services are typically considered for

outsourcing by school districts?

– Transportation

– School Nutrition Program

– Grounds Maintenance

– Building Maintenance

• Outsourcing of instructional services is not

common; however, shared service arrangements

with other districts are used throughout Texas



Do Local Districts Privatize?

• Austin ISD – Not at this time

• Round Rock ISD – School Nutrition Program –Grounds Maintenance except athletic fields –air filter installation – RRISD handled construction in Dripping Springs ISD and at Williamson Co Appraisal Districts – Also managed transportation for a couple of other districts in the past

• Leander ISD – School Nutrition Program



Do Local Districts Privatize?

• Hays County ISD – School Nutrition Program

• Hutto ISD – School Nutrition Program –Considering outsourcing grounds maintenance – Discontinued transportation outsourcing

• Pflugerville ISD – School Nutrition Program –Transportation Program – Explored contracting custodial and grounds, but analysis indicated that would not be cost effective



Perspectives on Privatization Child Nutrition Program

ISDs Enrollment 3,000 – 5,000



Perspectives on Privatization Plant Maintenance and Operations




Perspectives on Privatization Plant Child Nutrition Program




Does Privatization Save Money?

• Conclusions cannot be drawn based on the data readily available

• Districts that allow hiring of too many staff members may benefit from outsourcing to a management company

• If a community does not have competent employees or applicants available to manage operational areas, outsourcing may be a good option

• If competent staff members are available to manage a program, school districts may save money by keeping the function in-house



Sources of Information Included in

This Presentation• PEIMS (Public Education Information

Management System), Texas Education Agency, 1701

North Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78701

• Division of State Funding, Texas Education Agency, 1701

North Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78701

• eFACTS+ (Data Analysis Tool), Texas Association of

School Business Officials, 2538 South Congress Ave., Austin, TX

78704

• Business Office Staff of School Districts Listed (or

personal knowledge of district operations)Texas Association of School Business


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