Thanks to all your hard work, we had more than 700 Texas charter school parents, students, teachers and charter leaders join us at the Capitol on May 8th and call for passage of strong charter legislation at the TCSA Rally at the South Steps of the Texas State Capitol.  View the Austin American Statesman photo gallery from the rally.

Thanks to all these TCSA member schools for bringing attendees to the rally:

Austin Discovery School	Life Schools	Texas Empowerment Academy
East Dallas Community Schools	Meadowland Charter School	Texas Preparatory School
FOCUS Learning Academy	New Frontiers Charter School	Uplift Education
Harmony Public Schools	NYOS	Wayside Schools
Houston Heights Learning Academy	Raul Yzaguirre School for Success	Winfree Academy Charter School
KIPP Austin	The Rhodes School	YES Prep Public Schools
KIPP Houston	St. Anthony's Academy	East Austin College Prep
KIPP San Antonio	STAND	Pegasus Charter

During National Charter Schools Week and in the final days of the 83rd Legislature, the Texas Charter Schools Association welcomed to Austin more than 700 parents, students, teachers and charter leaders from across Texas to rally on the south steps of the Texas State Capitol to show their strong support for public charter schools and charter legislation this session. On that same day, the TCSA's first charter bill, SB 1538, which helps to accurately measure drop out recovery charters and traditional public schools, passed and is now headed to the Governor's desk.

Texas Lt. Governor David Dewhurst addressed the rally participants as well as Senate Education Chairman Dan Patrick, House Public Education Committee member and Representative Marsha Farney and Representative Diane Patrick.  We also had two parents address the rally from Uplift in Dallas and NYOS in Austin and other parents, leaders and supporters traveled from Houston, San Antonio, San Marcos, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Angelo and locally from Austin, Tex., to rally for legislation that helps their children and strengthens overall charter school policy to benefit all charter schools statewide.

 

We have now seen two more bills passed from TCSA member legislative priorities: on its way to the Governor is HB 885 on the Permanent School fund bond guarantee refinancing for charters, and passed in the House and Senate, but still with some differences to work out is the big charter school bill,  SB 2. We look forward to updating you after the session ends next week and during our Member Council meeting on July 24, 2013 in San Antonio. 

Thank you!