Texas State Board of Education rejects conservative-backed Heritage Classical Academy charter school for third time
“I don’t believe the teacher candidates should be the conduit for cleaning up the system, nor should they bear the expense of that,” said Audrey Young, a Republican representing Southeast Texas and part of the Greater Houston area.
The Texas State Board of Education Friday again rejected an application of a Houston charter school whose founder gave money to a political action committee that backed anti-critical race theory candidates for the board and whose board member accused organizers of the Women’s March of trying to impose Sharia in America.
The Heritage Classical Academy, which had plans to open in 2023 using a curriculum developed by the conservative Christian Hillsdale College, was one of four applicants for charters that were rejected by the board this week. The elected body made up of nine Republicans and six Democrats did move forward with a new charter school in Fort Worth, the Academy of Visual Performing Arts for sixth to twelfth grade students.
The Heritage charter’s application has been vetoed multiple times, most recently in June 2021. Members voted 8 to 6 on Friday to deny its application after a lengthy debate on the issue the day before.
