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Texas State Board of Education approves new Houston charter school
- Jun 26
- 2 min read
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2026
CONTACT:
Marco Guajardo, mguajardo@texasaft.org
Texas State Board of Education approves new Houston charter school
The new private equity-backed charter organization is a for-profit Florida-based company
Austin, Texas – Today, the Texas State Board of Education voted 9-5 to approve a new charter school with two campuses in Houston nearby Aldine and Spring ISDs. The charter management organization, Second Mile Education, is a for-profit Florida-based business backed by private equity. Analysis of the application by policy expert Patti Everitt reveals that the applicant failed to disclose its private equity ties, misrepresented the waitlist for students at existing district alternative campuses, and has lower graduation rates and accountability scores than existing campuses in Aldine ISD.
Moreover, Second Mile (under a prior name, Accelerated Learning Solutions) was the subject of a 2017 ProPublica investigation into alternative charter schools in Florida, which accused the organization of leaving students “in front of computers with little or no live teaching” only for hundreds to “exit quickly with no degree and limited prospects.”
“Privatization in all its forms is a threat to public education. Charter schools invest less in the classroom, pick and choose their students at whim, and often send Texas education dollars out of the state, like they’re doing here. Bringing private equity into the mix only makes a bad situation worse,” said Zeph Capo, president of Texas AFT. “The State Board of Education won’t change until we change it. That’s why Texas AFT is proud to support pro-public education champions who will base their decisions on the facts instead of the ongoing grift that this board has committed itself to on the taxpayer’s dime.”
The Texas American Federation of Teachers represents 66,000 teachers, paraprofessionals, support personnel, and higher-education employees across the state. Texas AFT is affiliated with the 1.8-million-member American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO.
