TCSA is a statewide Association representing more than 445 charter schools and educating more than 135,000 students in every part of our great state. In total, an estimated 154,000 Texas students attend more than 500 open-enrollment charter schools with more than 101,000 additional students on waiting lists. There is an arbitrary cap of 215 on the number of charters awarded in Texas, and there are 209 already awarded (as of November 2012), leaving only six charters left. The Association advocates in Austin and Washington D.C. for member schools, improves their academic and financial performance through the implementation of the TCSA Quality Framework, and provides member services for school operators, board members, and staff. TCSA also hosts an annual statewide conference, one of the largest gatherings of charter schools in the nation.
Mission and Strategy
The mission of the Texas Charter Schools Association is to accelerate student achievement in Texas by empowering a diverse set of effective and quality-driven charter schools.
A set of guiding principles shapes this mission:
- Unify and represent diverse types of effective and quality-driven charter schools that enhance student achievement.
- Help create a better definition of an effective charter school that incorporates growth and complements the existing accountability system’s status measures of academic performance.
- Support member schools to improve their effectiveness in meeting educational mission and progress towards student excellence.
- Advocate in the Texas legislature and broader public for effective charter schools as a critical part of the overall public education system.
- Provide fee-based services to member schools to reduce their costs while building a self-sustaining organization.
