As Texas lawmakers debate school vouchers, parents head to Austin, urging legislators to prioritize public funding. NBC 5’s Meredith Yeomans has more.
As the debate over school vouchers intensifies in Austin, parents want their voices heard.
“We’re doing basically anything we can,” said Rebekah Baus.
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WATCH HEREBaus is the PTA president and the parent of two students at Daniel Elementary in the Northwest ISD, a district planning to cut about 100 teaching positions.
“The more I get to learn, the more concerning and troubling it is. In Northwest ISD, we currently have a deficit budget because there hasn’t been an increase,” explained Baus. “The basic allotment hasn’t been raised since 2019. We’ve experienced a lot of inflation since 2019.”
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SIGN UP According to the Texas Education Agency’s website, the basic allotment for each student in Texas public schools is $6,160 per year.
The Texas Senate’s voucher program would give families $10,000 to fund students’ private school education.
“A public school gets just over $6,000 for a public school student so that just doesn’t even make sense,” said Baus.
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Baus and about two dozen other Northwest ISD parents and students will travel to Austin on Monday for Texas PTA Rally Day.
She says they’ll make their case with lawmakers, then march outside the Capitol.
“When we go down to Austin, we’re representing over 10,000 PTA members alone just in Northwest ISD and saying this is what we stand for,” said Baus.
She says their top demand is to fund public education first.
“Whether you are pro-vouchers or against vouchers, I think it’s fund public schools first before we start giving away money to private schools or even the same amount,” she said.
School vouchers have failed in the state legislature before.
The issue is Gov. Greg Abbott’s top priority this session, as he argues voucher programs give parents more control over their children’s education.
