THIRD LEGISLATIVE SESSION BEGINS WITH PROTEST AT KOLKHORST’S OFFICE
A third special session of the Texas Legislature that was called by Governor Greg Abbott began this (Monday) afternoon.
One of the big topics of discussion for the session is school choice. School choice is a proposed program that uses public money to help parents pay for their children’s private school tuition.
Governor Abbott identified the issue as an emergency item in his 2023 State of the State Address.
Opponents of the issue gathered this (Monday) morning outside of the PNC Building at 2000 South Market Street in Brenham, which houses the local office of State Senator Lois Kolkhorst to push back against the proposal.
(photos courtesy Amy Ardington)
Those against the issue say that it will take money from public schools and funnel it into private institutions, and that while public schools accept all children, private schools can pick and choose who they let in.
Those in favor of school choice said that it will open up options for students who have parents that can’t afford private school. Proponents say that it lets parents choose the best educational option for their kids.
Senator Kolkhorst released a statement Monday evening in response to the protest: “I will always support the First Amendment rights of my constituents to petition their government. There are many voices engaging in this issue on both sides of the debate. I appreciate all who are concerned with educating our children and I will keep everyone’s thoughts in mind.”
There was a bill in the regular session that included funding for teacher pay-raises and a per-student dollar increase.
However, when the Texas Senate added school choice legislation, the bill was voted down.
The special session is expected to last for 30 days. In addition to school choice, other topics expected to be taken up include border issues and COVID vaccines.
Vouchers are about a child’s access to their tax dollars, the 6-8 grand is attached to every child in Texas. Every child in Texas should have at least 10 grand to pay for school. The children that are in private and home schools right now are not given the tax dollars awarded to children in public right now and the public schools are essentially stealing that money to pay for things unnecessary to education. This is simply because existing legislation has not kept up with needs of citizens. Current state law no longer solves the education problem because of an ongoing and much larger societal collapse. The family, our health and security have been sacrificed for the sake providing profits to the greedy. A great example of this are the various and mostly legal methods of importing slave labor into the US for exploitation. All while setting the public school system and the kids that go their up to take the fall because the slave labor force has a ton of kids that require much more than reading writing and math instruction. What cannot be produced within our own laws, on our own land, by our own labor, should not be available for consumption.
Vouchers do not give money to churches or take money from public schools. Vouchers do provide each and every child equal funding to education while allowing freedom of conscience. When class size is expanded, drug head parents make disruptive kids for schools to parent, unregulated social media is allowed to exist, porn is rampant, drugs proliferate from both legal and illegal means, football and baseball become idols, identity replaces selflessness, gender replaces sex, its time to allow for some freedom of conscience.
We should all want vouchers and more programs like it. Our government should make every effort to accommodate the very “diversity” some ideologues claim is a strength, vouchers do that, public school in its current form does not. Or is diversity of thought and freedom of conscience not really compatible with liberalism as we know it?
Quick reply to “Let’s Do Better.” Having sent children to both private and public schools, I can promise you that they aren’t equivalent competitors. Your “competition” argument is founded on a fallacy.
Let me explain. Public schools are tasked with educating ALL children, including the disabled and those from disadvantaged homes. The vast majority of private schools are able to pick and choose among candidates for admission through a selective process. (The better the school, the more selective the process!) The sheer difference in scale and size of the campuses and the breadth of a public school mission versus the relatively narrow mission of a private school are fundamental differences, hence the impossibility of considering these separate educational systems as competitors in any valid way.
I served for 3 years on the school board of our sons’ Episcopal school, and I was on the Campus Performance Objectives Committee (CPOC) at La Porte High School for 3 years. I have thought about educational issues for a long time.
Public school systems exist for the benefit of all: they are a PUBLIC GOOD, like the highways and byways on which we drive. If parents choose to opt out of a public good, then there is no earthly reason for the government to subsidize their choice.
(By the way, the longer our sons stayed in private school, the more inferior their math & science classes became, relative to what was available in public school. This was a major reason we switched to public school.)
For all the above reasons, I respectfully disagree with your competition-based argument.
My argument for competition is based on the idea that consumers in the market get to decide what is best for their children. I am very aware of how schools work having been married to a public school teacher for many years, having many public educators in my family, and also having served on the board of directors (as Chairman) of a private school my child attended. The idea that public schools are equal to the Public Good shows a complete lack of critical thinking. The facts are that many public schools are failing in their mission, they misdirect public funds to pay for many unnecessary projects and personnel (a failure to focus on the classroom), and they are rapidly becoming a hotbed of WOKE idealism that is much too focused on social issues instead of learning. If our highways were as bad as our public schools, we would never make it down the road. I think some of these replies show a fundamental lack of understanding of what competition is and the fact that it is driven by the consumer (in this case, the parents and the students). Not all public or private schools are equal, however, it is best to allow parents to be able to have CHOICE so that they can do what is best for their children. In my humble opinion, allowing them to use their own money that is being taken from them to facilitate that choice is the right thing to do!
Reply to “Amy Ardington”; you are correct and I totally agree with your post. There is ALREADY School Choice in public education. If parents want their children to attend private schools they are more than welcome to remove them and register them into a private school of their choice using their own monies. It is not illegal to do so and the parents should pay for the tuition themselves! This is fair. We do not have children attending BISD; yet, we STILL PAY property taxes to BISD and Blinn College (on 2 homes). This is not fair but the Political Mafia will not change this unjust system of school finance. I do not sympathize with parents who falsely think they should be allowed take (their) tax dollars from public schools and somehow transfer (their) tax dollars to a private institution! The moment Uncle Sam takes possession of those tax dollars the taxpayer loses ownership of them. Tax dollars are to be used for the “public good” but end up becoming the pawned property of politicians who prostitute those tax dollars to special interest groups. If you choose to send your children to private school then PAY for it yourself!
Why should public tax dollars go toward supporting private schools that are allowed to accept some students but deny others??? It does seem that those who complain about a free ride to some citizens want exactly the same thing for themselves. This is a political stunt perpetrated upon the unsuspecting public by crafty politicians who play to their party base to get re-elected. Stop the Sham!
This ploy of “School Choice” will abandon public schools leaving only those who are disabled, troubled, poor, undesirable (minorities) and underachieving. This is exactly the hope of a sad sadistic segment of our society who have nothing better to do than to blame others for their poor pitiful existence.
With all of the reflective societal issues exposed in public schools; yet, a public education is better than no education. We elect public officials and hire education professionals to solve problems, not cast blame on others or pass the buck. Stop the Sham! School Choice IS NOT the answer! School Reform is!
I am still waiting for an answer to one fundamental question: how can conservatives, self-proclaimed proponents of fiscal responsibility, support funding two separate systems of education?
In chronically underfunded rural districts, vouchers or ESAs will be particularly detrimental to the public schools, which are the lifeblood of many rural communities. Moreover, where are the private schools in these areas to which to send the students?
As a practical matter, the amounts of voucher or ESA $ being discussed do not approach the cost of tuition at a QUALITY, accredited private school. At best, the proposed amounts approach half the tuition cost. And, yes, proper accreditation matters!
To send a child to private school, an operable vehicle, funds for uniforms and field trips, and daily parental provision of lunch are all attendant expenses. Private school is for those who are financially stable or already quite comfortable. Giving these folks ESA or voucher $ would be a form welfare for the relatively wealthy.
If you want your children to go to private school, find a way to “pay the freight.” My parents made sacrifices to send me, and my husband and I did the same for our sons. Ultimately, our kids entered public school, and they graduated from La Porte ISD in 2017 and 2021. College majors: civil engineering & biology. They will tell you that, as an overall experience, public school was better than private school.
Don’t give up on public schools. Don’t believe all the bad publicity or reports you hear. La Porte ISD made forward strides every year our sons were there!
Well Senator, which side do you support? The constituents in you area would like to know! All you say is you support our rights but don’t give a clear direction in which you lean towards. Please enlighten all of us on where you stand on the use of taxpayer dollars going to fund private schools!
Thank you Senator Lois Kolkhorst there is two sides to a coin and I trust you will do what’s fair to all. The thing about monopolies is well you don’t have a choice and if you don’t have a choice you don’t have a lot of freedom. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. If the schools were doing a great job it would not be an issue in my mind. I had a friend sue the school in another county cause his son graduated high school and he claimed he was only 7th grade level. We can do better and we should not be regulated so we can’t do better.
“School choice is a proposed program that uses public money to help parents pay for their children’s private school tuition.” I strongly disagree with this explanation of School Choice. There is no such thing as “public money”, every single cent any government body has comes from US, the TAXPAYERS! It is money that is TAKEN from us and we are often given little or no choice in how it is spent. School Choice actually allows a taxpayer to decide where they want their children to go to school and to utilize a portion of the money THEY PAY IN to help cover this cost. Many public schools are terrified of this because they know they are not measuring up and are afraid they cannot compete in a competitive market that allows CHOICE! However, it is time to give ALL parents a choice to send their children to the best school possible regardless of whether it is a public school are not.
Very well spoken. Our school district is a very obvious disaster, and has been for quite some time. Yet they claim it’s all the States fault, and this is all new. My family spent years in private and homeschool, all the while sending tax dollars to a clearly failed district. Could we afford it? No. The good lord provided. When Burton embarrasses you, you might need some reflection.
You have the choice to send your child to any voucher “school” of your choice. You do NOT have the choice to starve public education of funds so Abbott can allocate TWICE as much per student to attend these religious/rightwing indoctrination centers posing as schools, while starving public schools for funding.
Thank you to all that those citizens who participated in this display supporting public education. Public schools are for ALL American children and something we should cherish and preserve. Our state government officials are trying to starve out public schools by not giving monetary support. It is intentional! Listen to what your voters want, not what YOU are pushing on us. There have always been choices for parents. Send your kids to charter or private schools but you must foot the bill. Period. Your choice! Who is going to pay for construction of the new schools?? Who will supervise them? Teach your children religious principles at home that carry over in to all parts of their life. Don’t expect schools to do that for you unless they are parochial schools. That is a family job. Listen up Lois to what the public wants. And Governor Abbott ….stop threatening the voters when you say you will have your way “or else.” WE have the choice.
Teachers in public schools are not teaching. They are lowering the standards some of us don’t want to accept this fact. Twenty five countries in the world out perform the USA in basic education and they spend less per student. Why are we spending more and getting less what is the common denominator? Politics and money neither have courage to do what is right. There is no right way to do the wrong thing.
They are not Public Schools…they are Government Schools run/controlled at the state and National levels. They are not run by the Public at local levels. And they have failed miserably. So I’m totally fine with the ridiculous amount of money I have to pay in property taxes being available for parents to use sending their children to schools they believe will educate their child…not indoctrinate them.
School choice is a terrible idea.
Even though public schools are sometimes wrong in one approach or another, they are still much better for our children. If you take the money away from the ISD and give them to non public entities, there is very little accountability comparatively. You will also have new ” private schools” pop up from more church schools to anyone else who would like to get their hands on those tax dollars. Nothing is perfect, but this idea is terrible, everyone needs to call the Governor and yell him so.
It’s called competition…Government schools have failed. Partly because they are not held accountable for their failures…as you claim private schools won’t be. So having choices is outstanding. Make the government schools produce excellent results or let the money go to schools who produce excellent results.
Also, I believe that churches who get any public monies, should lose their tax free status.
Church is already a big business and they pay no taxes, but get plenty of money, doing plenty of things.
If the Church can get the tax money as well, you will definitely see their high tuition fee’s go up even more. The same for any other type of private school. This, if passed, will only make other private schools cost more, whether a Church school or not.
It’s a terrible idea!
my grand daughter goes to a private school for several reasons 1 she said she didn’t feel safe in public school 2 she said that there are too many students that act up in class which is not allowing the teachers to do their jobs 3 she does not feel mentally challenged in other words the public schools have to cut their standards so the kids can pass their classes. I say if the parents have the money to send their children then let them do this and why shouldn’t they get some money from the state they are paying school taxes but not getting any thing out of it.