School voucher supporters believe they will finally manage
to pass a bill with backing from families displeased with public schools in the
last two years over pandemic response rules and about how race and history are
taught. Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the Texas GOP have already
listed taxpayer-funded alternatives to sending a child to the local public
school as a legislative priority for next year.
State Senator Mayes Middleton, R-Wallisville has filed the
most comprehensive bill on the topic so far. Middleton claims “What my bill
would do is it would empower every single parent in the state of Texas to
choose which education works best for their children’s unique educational
needs.” Middleton and other voucher advocates
fail to mention that such empowerment only applies to Texans who live in
areas with such alternative schools or at least a population large enough to
support one and transportation to get the child to that alternative location.
Private schools also need not accept all children who wish to enroll.
HB 557 by Cody Vasut (R-Angleton ), HB 619 by Matt Shaheen
(R-Plano), and SB 176 by Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) are various forms of
voucher bills that have one thing in common: diverting taxpayer dollars away
from real public schools. HB 983 by Rep. Terri Leo-Wilson (R-Galveston) would
remove the last sliver of local control that elected officials have regarding
charter schools, which is where they are built or located. Leo-Wilson’s bill
would allow charter schools to avoid the only smidgen of local oversight in
existence since charters do not have elected boards, do not need voter approval
for new buildings, and do not hold local meetings to determine where best to
build for the community, the way real public schools do. Taxpayer dollars going
to private schools is an attack on transparent, accountable governance, as
private schools are largely unregulated and not required to hold public
meetings, have boards elected by taxpayers, or publicly disclose spending or
other records the way public schools must.
Vouchers are a fiscal drain on the public education system
and those taxpayer dollars should go toward improving our neighborhood schools
instead.
I’d like to see support of increasing teacher pay and
decreasing teacher workloads, such as lower class sizes not just lower student
to teacher ratios which still allow well over 30 students per classroom. We all
need to recognize that continuing to allow teachers and support staff to be
overworked to the point of burnout is counter-productive. Expecting teachers to
provide the quality of education our students deserve without the resources
they need is just asking them to find other jobs.
I don’t know about you but I’m not happy about the notion of
my taxes going to pay someone teaching a religion class. I’m pretty sure that
even Republicans would object to that if they considered that their taxes could
go to paying for tuition to religious schools that aren’t Christian.
Considering some of the intolerant remarks coming out of the mouths of Dan
Patrick and his followers, how do you think they’d react to school vouchers to
a Muslim school? Some of those folks might have a stroke.
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