Texas BOE Adopts Endowment Plan

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ The State Board of Education has adopted a proposal to dedicate public school endowment dollars to finance charter school facilities.

The proposal is contingent on a legal opinion from the Texas attorney general.

The 7-6 vote Friday was to invest as much as $100 million of the $23 billion Permanent School Fund into developing and leasing Texas charter schools.

Chairwoman Gail Lowe agreed to seek an opinion on the proposal’s legality from the Texas attorney general.Board member David Bradley has pushed the measure for the past two years.

The Permanent School Fund is an endowment created in 1876 to benefit Texas public schools. The board’s investment adviser, Rhett Humphreys, says estimating the risk for a charter school investment is “very tricky business.”

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


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