Charter schools, established in Texas in 1995, compose a small but influential sector of Texas public education. Now in existence over 25 years, open-enrollment charter schools served approximately 336,900 students (or roughly 6% of Texas public education students) in 2019-20. Tens of thousands of students are on charter school waitlists across the state, according to early state reports.
K-12 Education
The Education Cartel
Texas’ education system is not merely inefficient. It is structurally tilted to benefit insiders at the public’s expense, according to an explosive new report. The root of the problem is the Education Cartel—a network of consultants, vendors, and taxpayer-funded lobbyists who profit from ever-expanding school bond debt and bureaucratic growth. This system has helped drive...
April 8, 2026