State Will Close Three More Charter Schools

Three Texas charter schools will be shut down for failing to comply with either the state education code or provisions in their charter, state officials said Thursday. 

The Texas Education Agency notified administrators at La Amistad Love and Learning Academy in Houston, Global Learning Village Charter School in Houston and Somerset Charter School in El Paso that their charters would be revoked. The closings are unrelated to the higher academic standards for charters lawmakers enacted in 2013, a law that resulted in TEA closing 14 charter schools in December.

Letters from Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams to officials at the schools detail the reasons for the closures.

A letter to La Amistad says administrators spent state funds on residential properties “for personal benefit.” Global Learning Village’s tax-exempt status was revoked in 2013 after the school failed to file with the IRS, voiding the charter contract. And Somerset failed to open on time.

The schools have until Feb. 5 to request an informal review, which could lead to a reversal of the revocation. Thirteen of the 14 charter schools closed in December filed for such reviews; the process is ongoing.