Bill Text: TX HB1278 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to creation and funding of professional charter academies which are owned and operated by highly qualified teaching professionals in Texas and authorizing the commissioner of education to adopt rules to administer and fund the professional charter academy program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-11-13 - Filed [HB1278 Detail]

Download: Texas-2025-HB1278-Introduced.html

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By: Schoolcraft H.B. No. 1278

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to creation and funding of professional charter academies
which are owned and operated by highly qualified teaching
professionals in Texas and authorizing the commissioner of
education to adopt rules to administer and fund the professional
charter academy program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 12, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter F to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER F. PROFESSIONAL TEACHER ACT
Sec. 12.201. PURPOSE. The purpose of this subchapter is to
give education professionals the opportunity to function
independently, with property rights similar to those afforded other
professionals and the rewards inherent in those rights. Further,
to allow highly qualified education professionals the opportunity
to innovate and create educational programs suited for the specific
needs of their student clientele.
Sec. 12.202. PROFESSIONAL CHARTER ACADEMY PROGRAM.
(a) The commissioner shall establish a professional charter
academy program under which eligible education professionals are
authorized to create and operate professional charter academy in
accordance with this subchapter.
(b) The commissioner shall adopt rules to administer this
subchapter. The rules shall be designed to prevent financial fraud
and abuse.
Sec. 12.203. ELIGIBLE EDUCATION PROFESSIONALS. (a) To be
eligible to operate a professional charter academy under this
subchapter, an education professional must:
(1) have at least five years of classroom teaching
experience; and
(2) have been rated as proficient or higher for at
least five 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 may be organized in
accordance with the Texas Business Organizations Code.
(c) A professional charter academy must be one hundred
percent beneficially owned by eligible education professionals who
operate or work at the academy.
Sec. 12.204. APPLICATION OF LAWS. A professional charter
academy is subject only to federal and state laws applicable to
schools accredited 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. 12.205. INITIAL FUNDING. An eligible education
professional under Section 12.203 is responsible for securing
initial capital to fund the first full year of operations. State
funding for students enrolled in a professional academy will only
be available after completion of the first full school year. The
commissioner shall establish a schedule for funding students
enrolled in professional academies after completion of an academy's
first full school year.
Sec. 12.206. GRANTING OF CHARTER. The commissioner shall
grant a charter to operate a professional charter academy to
eligible professionals under Section 12.203 if the professional
provides to the commissioner:
(1) a viable business plan;
(2) proof of financial ability to fund the academy's
anticipated expenses for the first full school year, 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. 12.207. PUBLIC FUNDING. Notwithstanding any provision
of this code to the contrary, a student participating in the program
under this subchapter is eligible for funding under Chapter 48 in
accordance with Section 48.310 and rules adopted by the
commissioner.
SECTION 2. Sec. 48.269 Education Code is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 48.269. ESTIMATES REQUIRED. (a) Not later than
October 1 of each even-numbered year:
(1) the agency shall submit to the legislature an
estimate of:
(A) the tax rate and student enrollment of each
school district for the following biennium; and
(B) student enrollment that qualifies for an
allotment under Section 48.310; and
(2) the comptroller shall submit to the legislature an
estimate of the total taxable value of all property in the state as
determined under Subchapter M, Chapter 403, Government Code, for
the following biennium.
SECTION 3. Sec. 48.310 of the Education Code is amended by
adding Sec. 48.310 as follows:
Sec. 48.310. (a) Notwithstanding Section 48.002, for each
student enrolled in the professional charter academy program, that
qualifies for an account balance, the agency, on behalf of the
student, is entitled each year to an amount equal to the lessor of:
(1) Average state funding, per student enrolled,
received by open-enrollment charter schools during the school year;
or,
(2) The average maintenance and operation cost per
student for the school district which the child is eligible to
attend.
(b) The commissioner may adjust the amount provided in
accordance with the student's actual time actively enrolled in the
program.
(c) The commissioner shall provide funding under Subsection
(a) to the benefit of the student's education account, not later
than the 90th day after the commissioner receives enrollment data
reports.
(d) Federal funds and money appropriated from the permanent
school fund or available school fund may not be used to make
payments under this section.
SECTION 4. Section 48.266, Education Code, is amended by
amending subsection (b) and adding subsection (b-1) to read as
follows:
(b) Except as provided by this subsection and Subsection
(b-1), the commissioner shall base the determinations under
Subsection (a) on the estimates provided to the legislature under
Section 48.269, or, if the General Appropriations Act provides
estimates for that purpose, on the estimates provided under that
Act, for each school district for each school year. The
commissioner shall reduce the entitlement of each district that has
a final taxable value of property for the second year of a state
fiscal biennium that is higher than the estimate under Section
48.269 or the General Appropriations Act, as applicable. A
reduction under this subsection may not reduce the district's
entitlement below the amount to which it is entitled at its actual
taxable value of property.
(b-1) The commissioner shall periodically, during the
school year, update entitlements for school districts to reflect
actual student counts determined by the agency.
SECTION 5. Section 45.105(c-1), Education Code is amended
to read as follows:
(c-1) Funds described by Subsection (c) and not otherwise
restricted federal funds may not be used to initiate or maintain any
action or proceeding against the state or an agency or officer of
the state [arising out of a decision, order, or determination that
is final and unappealable under a provision of this code], except
that funds may be used for an action or proceeding that is
specifically authorized by a provision of this code or an action
under Section 2001.038, Government Code [or a rule adopted under
this code and that results in a final and unappealable decision,
order, or determination].
SECTION 6. Section 22A.001, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) to read as follows:
Sec. 22A.001. ELIGIBLE PROCEEDINGS. (a) The attorney
general may petition the chief justice of the supreme court to
convene a special three-judge district court in any suit filed in a
district court in this state in which this state or a state officer
or agency is a defendant in a claim that:
(1) challenges the finances or operations of this
state's public school system, including a challenge to the
professional charter academy program; or
(2) involves the apportionment of districts for the
house of representatives, the senate, the State Board of Education,
or the United States Congress, or state judicial districts.
(b) A petition filed by the attorney general under this
section stays all proceedings in the district court in which the
original case was filed until the chief justice of the supreme court
acts on the petition.
(c) Within a reasonable time after receipt of a petition
from the attorney general under Subsection (a), the chief justice
of the supreme court shall grant the petition and issue an order
transferring the case to a special three-judge district court
convened as provided by Section 22A.002.
SECTION 7. As soon as possible but not later than the 45th
day after the effective date of this Act 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. The Commissioner shall adopt rules for the
financial implementation of the program.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2025.