Until about 30 years ago, charters didn\u2019t exist in Texas, but parents in a district like Houston ISD could apply for their kids to attend campuses outside their attendance zone if the nearby schools were low-performing . Still there was no guarantee there would be room for them in the preferred school. And transportation wouldn\u2019t be provided. Or they could pay for tuition at a private school and hope their child would be accepted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Texas passed a law in 1995 authorizing charter schools as part of broader school reform efforts. At first, they were small and experimental. Now, districts like YES Prep<\/a> and KIPP Houston<\/a> each serve more than 20,000 students across multiple campuses.\u00a0Not all charters, however, are successful. R\u00eave Preparatory Charter School was shut down<\/a> by the TEA last year after two years of noncompliance, F ratings and special education concerns. <\/p>\n Sherrod, a former teacher at the School of Science and Technology, a charter, said she has a 17-year-old enrolled at Alief Taylor High School and an Alief ISD graduate who\u2019s now at the University of Houston, but she thought her younger kids could better thrive in the charter environment. Her two \u201clittles\u201d will enter first and second grade at the new YES Prep West Elementary School when it opens in August.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sherrod joined several other parents on a tour of the new YES Prep West campus on Sharpcrest last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI just love the environment,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s convenient for where I stay. It\u2019s organized. I disliked where my kids were going this year and I don\u2019t want them to return. I went on a tour at another YES Prep campus, and it was just a different vibe. Kids were happy. You can tell when children are comfortable. When my children are comfortable, it does my heart good.\u201d<\/p>\n Charter schools and traditional public schools are both publicly funded, tuition-free institutions, but Houston-area charter schools operate under a contract with the TEA or, in some cases, the local school district, and often have a lower teacher-student ratio. Charter supporters often point to the fact that they can specialize in STEM, arts or specific teaching philosophies, but traditional public schools can too. <\/strong>Traditional public schools operate under district regulations set by a board and guarantee enrollment for all students in their boundaries, while charters may use lotteries.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since the TEA took over Houston ISD in June 2023 and appointed Miles as superintendent, the district has heard frequent complaints from parents and students about scripted lessons, limited classroom autonomy, standardized lesson plans and AI-assisted materials.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last month, HISD parents became aware of leaked plans to create \u201cspecialty schools<\/a>\u201d for special education students but the district didn\u2019t provide any details on whether children would be reassigned for the 2026-27 school year. HISD officials said more information would be provided by early summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n Charter schools are required to serve students with disabilities, but traditional public schools often have more robust resources for special education. YES Prep West Principal Carolyn Thouin said at the April 30 \u201ccommunity hard hat tour\u201d of the new campus that the district provides an array of core enrichments. <\/p>\n The new elementary school has a bilingual program for native Spanish speakers and a\u00a0 focus on music, \u201cwhich is special because the secondary campus that we feed into is the only YES Prep that has a fully-functioning string orchestra,\u201d Thouin said. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re hoping that students can start learning instruments and then transition into the secondary and be in the orchestra,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re also doing independence milestones. In each grade level, each semester, students will complete a task or a skill. In first grade, it\u2019s tying your own shoes. In kindergarten, it\u2019s knowing your parents\u2019 phone number and coming to the principal\u2019s office and calling them. We\u2019re hoping to establish independence along with academics.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Two special ed settings are offered at the new YES Prep school: one for pre-K students and one for students in kindergarten through second grade. The school will only go through second grade in its first year and they\u2019ll add more grade levels in the future. The pre-K special ed class has six students, and the other one has 12 students, and two teachers are in both classrooms. Special ed students go to recess, lunch and core enrichment classes with other students in their grade level, \u201cso there\u2019s lots of mixing and mingling,\u201d Thouin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Critics of charters say the wave of new schools is eroding traditional public education. A recent study<\/a> by Rice University\u2019s Kinder Institute for Urban Research found that Aldine and Houston ISDs shuttered 23 schools in the last three years. Cypress-Fairbanks ISD is faced with a $74 million budget deficit<\/a> for the next school year, and while it hasn\u2019t had to close schools yet, board members are meeting on May 21 to discuss all options for recovering lost funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n At an April 13 meeting, the Cy-Fair CFO explained that each student who leaves the district is taking about $6,000 in state funding with them. Board president Julie Hinaman said the number of new charter schools cropping up without approval from local stakeholders \u201cwill continue to degrade our enrollment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s something we can talk to our state legislators about,\u201d Hinaman said. \u201cIf there\u2019s a decline in enrollment across the state, why would you continue to add campuses, especially ones that are 100 percent funded by the state? That just doesn\u2019t make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n School closings are happening nationwide for several reasons, including immigration concerns, a declining birthrate, fewer families moving to districts formerly known as education destinations, homeschooling, charters and a new statewide program offering vouchers<\/a> for private schools. Thouin says charter schools aren\u2019t trying to pull kids away from traditional public schools, but they want to give parents a choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI would say, as a parent, the thing that I always look for is the best choice, the best option, for my student,\u201d she said. \u201cIf a parent is looking for an option other than what they\u2019re zoned to, I think that\u2019s something people have done forever. People with money, at least, have always looked for other options when the public school in their area isn\u2019t giving them what they need. I think that\u2019s what we offer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Students attending YES Prep campuses don\u2019t have to live nearby but won\u2019t get free bus transportation if they\u2019re outside the zone. Thouin, referred to by her colleagues and students as \u201cDr. T,\u201d has worked for YES Prep for five years <\/strong>but this will be her first as principal. Prior to coming to YES Prep, she was a social studies teacher at KIPP Houston.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI love the people,\u201d she said of YES Prep. \u201cI love the mission. You don\u2019t work here unless you\u2019re aligned with the mission. The mission is to offer high-quality education to all Houston-area students and ultimately that they can leave our schools and lead a life of opportunity, whether that\u2019s college or something else, just that they\u2019re set up for a life of opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n Thouin said YES Prep is its own school district and is \u201cvery much like a public school.\u201d There\u2019s no cost to students, and breakfast and lunch are offered to everyone daily. After-school programs are free. The new school is YES Prep\u2019s 12th elementary, and they\u2019re hoping to build three more to match the number of secondary campuses.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Hard-hat-tour.jpeg\")
Community members attended a tour of the new charter YES Prep West Elementary School last week. Credit: April Towery<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Dr-T.jpeg\")
Carolyn Thouin is the principal at YES Prep West Elementary School, set to open in August. Credit: April Towery<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Keith-Weaver.jpeg\")
YES Prep Managing Director of Operations Keith Weaver shows off the playground at the charter\u2019s newest elementary school. Credit: April Towery<\/p>\n