School Vouchers Again!

 Back in 2017, then Speaker of the House, Joe Strauss told conference of school board members from across Texas in San Antonio “Somebody is going to pay for public education, it’s either going to come from the state or it’s going to from local property taxes. If we want real property tax reform we need real reform of school finance.” He explained that the way to improve public education and reduce property taxes is to increase state funding for education but legislation to offer state money for private school tuition is wrongheaded and counterproductive.

Gov. Abbott has claimed that “We can fully fund public schools while also giving parents a choice about which school is right for their child … giving them the choice to send their children to any public school, charter school or private school with state funding following the student.” If that were true then why have Republicans failed to fully fund public education in Texas for decades? The state portion of public education funding has been falling for well over a decade and is now about 45% of the funds needed for every child in public schools to get the limited education available. Texas K-12 public schools continue to suffer from high class sizes and under-paid teachers.

There are more than 342,000 children currently attending private schools in Texas so if the current $6160 per student amount is provided to those students then in order to continue that funding for children attending public schools the state must increase the education budget by $2.1 billion. Where will that money come from? That’s on top of the amount needed to provide the higher level of state funding needed to enable schools boards to reduce the property tax rates they have had to charge in order to adequately fund schools across the state.

In most of the state there are few if any non-sectarian private schools so if you’re not a member of one of the pre-dominant faiths in your area your children either won’t have the option to go to a private school or you’ll have to accept that they’re being indoctrinated in a faith other than your own. The real issue though is that taxpayer funding of religious schools is a direct violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The First Amendments state in part that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. The 14th Amendment extends the same constitutional protections to state actions as well. In fact the 14th Amendment is what prevents the states from doing all the things that the federal government is prohibited from doing in the rest of the constitution such as search and seizure of your property without a warrant and the right to a trial by a jury of your peers. The Supreme Court long ago ruled against state funds supplementing teacher salaries at religious schools and that’s exactly what Gov. Abbott is advocating.

What Abbott is really advocating for is essentially subsidizing wealthier people sending their kids to elitist schools while making it tougher on everyone else.

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.

Republican voters might still be alright with their taxes going to Lutheran, Baptist, or Catholic schools but what about a fundamentalist Islamic school?

Call Representative John Kuempel’s office at (830) 379-8732 and tell him to vote no on vouchers.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - February 8, 2023