Many Texans view the proposed school voucher program as a free gift for affluent families to the detriment of less affluent taxpayers.
Texas’ Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s school voucher proposal remains a contentious issue within the “Lone Star State.”
If the voucher system goes into effect, Texas taxpayers would supplement parents’ choice to send their children to private schools.
Presumably, the school voucher plan would take money out of the public school system, where many minority and non-affluent students are forced to attend and help more affluent families pay for their children’s education.
Many critics see the school voucher program as an example of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.
In addition to tax dollars being used on private school education, less money would go to public schools anyway because schools receive funding based on enrollment.
With the popularity of charter schools and the ability of some of Texas’ wealthier families to send their children to private schools, the voucher plan would mean less money for those less fortunate.
Even if some Texas residents can afford to send their children to private schools, their location may complicate “school choice” because many rural communities lack a sufficient number of private schools.
However, rural parents would assist in funding other children’s attendance at private schools if the school voucher program were approved.
Nevertheless, some parents of special needs students see the school voucher program as a life changer for their children.
Isaac Yu and Edward McKinley from the Austin Bureau of the Houston Chroniclereported, “For Rachel Barlow, a mom of two in small town-town Cuero [Texas], a voucher would be a lifeline.
“She said she had long watched her daughter struggle with reading and writing while receiving little support at their local public school. A diagnosis of dyslexia and dysgraphia about two years ago helped a little bit, giving her daughter access to intervention programs.
“But Barlow remained frustrated, increasingly worried about a big learning gap between her daughter and her peers. So last January, she enrolled her daughter at the Vine School, about 45 minutes away in Victoria [Texas], which has long served students on the autism spectrum and in 2019 opened a new program focused on learning differences like dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia.”
Barlow said the differences in her daughter’s performance have been “night and day.”
She added, “Before she did not want to go to school, she would wake up and just cry about not wanting to go. Now she hates it when there’s a school break.”
Nevertheless, many politicians and advocates still hate the proposal because it is forcing parents to help educate other people’s children, even if the voucher program would not work for them.
The Houston Chronicle added, “Several Houston-area parents told Hearst Newspapers they believed a private school could ultimately be the best fit for their children, with smaller class sizes and better learning environments. But others cited high costs and said they worried their child might not be accepted into another program in the first place.”
The school voucher fight is a battle within the war on education that many conservatives are pushing in states like Texas.
Labeled anti-woke, many conservatives want to change the rules of education, re-writing history books to not offend White people, and ignoring science, even if incorrect information is taught.
The U.S. Supreme Court outlawed affirmative action in college admission, claiming it was unfair to White students.
Under President Donald Trump’s so-called anti-woke agenda, colleges that do not eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion could lose millions of dollars in federal funding.
Furthermore, President Trump wants to dismantle the Department of Education.
Many Republicans, including the current president, want to “return” to merit-based achievement.
But if some children get to benefit from handouts in the form of school vouchers while others cannot, does that truly represent merit?
Other critics of the school voucher plan have concerns about the program’s costs.
McKinley from the Austin Bureau of the Houston Chronicle reported, “Republican state leaders pushing a private school voucher plan have emphasized it would transform the face of education in Texas. They also say its cost would be limited to $1 billion for the first year.
“But projections from the nonpartisan Legislative Budget Board show demand for the program providing students with taxpayer funds to subsidize homeschooling or private education options could quickly outpace the initial investment, pressuring lawmakers to pour more and more money into it, while pulling millions from public schools.
“According to the LBB, demand for the program is projected to grow from $1 billion worth of vouchers for its first year of operation in 2027 to $3.2 billion the following year, then $3.8 billion and $4.6 billion in 2030.”
However, Republican state Sen. Brandon Creighton of Conroe, Texas called those projections a “fairy tale” because he said Texas lawmakers would have to sign off on any future increases to the school voucher fund.
He said, “Senate Bill 2 is entirely subject to a future appropriations process and the Legislature making a decision to grow the population of students served.”
However, Jaime Puente, a policy analyst with the liberal-leaning group Every Texan, said, “What will most likely happen based on what we’ve seen in other states, to start drawing down those dollars…it’s really unlimited. It’s really an unlimited amount of funding, an unlimited amount of seats that people will be advertised to with state dollars.”
