Monday, November 22, 2010

Charter schools with ties to religious groups raise fears about state funds' use | Dallas Morning News

Charter schools with ties to religious groups raise fears about state funds' use | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Breaking News for Dallas-Fort Worth | Dallas Morning News

Charter schools with ties to religious groups raise fears about state funds' use

12:00 AM CST on Monday, November 22, 2010

Fourth in an occasional series By JESSICA MEYERS / The Dallas Morning News
jmeyers@dallasnews.com

Students at Duncanville's Advantage Academy follow biblical principles, talk openly about faith and receive guidance from a gregarious former pastor who still preaches when he speaks.

LARA SOLT/DMNFrisco's Elevate Life Church, where a 10-story cathedral is under construction, will house Leadership Prep School next fall. Church officials say it's a tenant-renter relationship. " style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; cursor: pointer; ">
LARA SOLT/DMN
Frisco's Elevate Life Church, where a 10-story cathedral is under construction, will house Leadership Prep School next fall. Church officials say it's a tenant-renter relationship.

But his congregation is a swath of low-income students. And his sermon is an educator's mantra about the opportunities of charter schools.

Advantage's state-funded campuses showcase the latest breed of charter schools, born from faith-based principles and taxpayer funds. More than 20 percent of Texas' charter schools have some kind of religious ties. That's the case for six of the seven approved this year, including ones in Frisco and Arlington.

Church-charter partnerships are springing up across the country as private institutions lose funding and nontraditional education models grow in popularity. Their emergence