Opinion ID: 6109717
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Commissioner's Revocation Authority

Text: The Commissioner revoked the charters of AYW and Honors under the authority provided in Education Code § 12.115. That authority was changed by the Legislature in 2013. Before that, the Commissioner's decision to revoke an open-enrollment was discretionary. Act of May 28, 2001, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 1504, § 12, 2001 Tex. Gen. Laws 5344 , 5350 (stating that the Commissioner may revoke a charter). The previous legislation listed multiple conditions that might warrant revocation but the duration and severity of those conditions was left undefined. Id. (allowing revocation for commit[ing] a material violation of the charter, fail[ing] to satisfy accountability provisions, and fail[ing] to comply with the law). After the 2013 amendments, what had been discretionary with the Commissioner became mandatory. The 2013 amendments also added a new mandatory revocation ground, which is the  focus of this appeal. TEX. EDUC. CODE § 12.115(c). Section 12.115(c) directs the Commissioner to revoke a charter when a charter school's academic or financial performance, or any combination of the two, fall below acceptable standards for the three preceding school years. See Id. § 12.115(c)(1) (pertaining to unacceptable academic performance rating), (c)(2) (pertaining to unsatisfactory financial accountability performance rating), (c)(3) (pertaining to any combination of these ratings). Another new provision described the initial three-year period the Commissioner was to consider when determining a school's academic and financial performance for purposes of the § 12.115(c)'s mandatory revocation. See Id. § 12.115(c-1).