One of the most controversial ideas in the state Legislature faces a key hurdle this week. A proposal allowing 100,000 students to use public school money on private and home schools will be the topic in a public hearing on Tuesday. NBC 5’s Phil Prazan reports this comes after Teacher Advocacy Day.
A few hundred educators traveled to Austin during their first day of spring break to advocate for more public school funding and against school choice vouchers, a proposal allowing families to use public school dollars on private and home schools.
Tuesday lawmakers will hear from the public on the House version of the bill, HB 3.
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WATCH HEREThe American Federation of Teachers Texas and the AFL-CIO organized a teacher advocacy Monday, including bringing four busloads of teachers down to Austin from Dallas, Garland, and Richardson.
“This is going to be nothing but a backdoor tax break to wealthy families who already send their kids to private schools," said Zeph Capo, from Texas AFT, organizing against the idea.
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SIGN UP Capo's group teamed up with school district leaders and PTA groups to try to derail a multi-million dollar effort to finally pass "school choice" measures in the Texas legislature. Last year, advocacy groups like Americans for Prosperity and the American Federation for Children spent time and energy to unseat Republicans who broke with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on his main priority. Advocates there argue adding more competition to the education system will lead to better student outcomes.
The teacher organizations are skeptical.
“These folks from Michigan and Pennsylvania have an interest in what happens to our kids in Texas and frankly most of our educators don’t feel like it’s a good interest," said Capo.
The House and Senate differ in their versions of the idea. The Senate already passed out its plan. The key hurdle is the Texas House after it publicly rejected the idea two years ago. The House version now plans to allow students to use 85% of their per-student public school funding to attend private school. That amount could range close to $10,000 for low-income students to up to $30,000 for special needs students.
Again school choice vouchers are Abbott's top priority in the legislature.
“Government is not in charge of those kids. Parents are in charge of those children," he said in Fort Worth last week, part of a large swing across the state to keep pressure on Republican lawmakers.
He argued it would give parents an option if they don't like the way public schools handle race and gender issues.
“Our schools are for educating our kids, not indoctrinating our kids," said Abbott.
The proposal's fate will hinge on key details like who will have access to the voucher account and what type of education materials they can spend it on.
Most House lawmakers have signed on to the lower chamber's version of the proposal in part because of Speaker Dustin Burrow's support and pledge that choice vouchers will pass along with billions more in regular public school funding.
“There are more than 76 legislators that will vote for a bill that ultimately will pass," said Burrows on Lone Star Politics.
The effort to sway lawmakers is in full force with polling on the issue swirling around the capitol: one showing choice vouchers are not popular at all, one showing Texans support them.
