Governor Greg Abbot says the Texas Legislature will pass “school choice” in 2025.  Lt. Governor Dan Patrick says “school choice” will be his top legislative priority in the upcoming legislative session and that he has reserved Senate Bill 2 for the yet-to-be authored proposal.  Given the upcoming debate and deliberations on “school choice” in the Legislature, we offer the following talking points for stakeholders in your community and discussions with your elected representatives.

·      “School choice” already exists—and has existed for decades.  Intradistrict transfers, interdistrict transfers, and the expansion of charter schools are manifestations of expanded “school choice” in Texas. What is today being marketed as “school choice" is more accurately termed “school vouchers,” which broadly refers to allowing public (taxpayer) funds to be used to pay for schooling outside the Texas public education system, such as at private schools, including sectarian education.

·      “Education savings accounts” (“ESAs”), a form of vouchers promoted in the Legislature in its most recent session(s), are essentially taxpayer-supported accounts for parents who remove their children from the public education system. Parents may use the money for approved educational expenses, such as private school tuition, private teaching services, or private tutors.

·      Under the Texas Constitution, the Legislature has the duty to make suitable provision for an efficient system of public schools.  Is allowing taxpayer funds to be used to purchase private sector promoting efficiency in the public school system?  There is an argument that it could be, but this seems a discussion worth having.

·      Under Section 4.001 of the Texas Education Code, one objective of state’s public school system, among many other laudable ones, is for students to “demonstrate exemplary performance in comparison to national and international standards.”  Specific goals include, but are not limited to, exemplary performance in mathematics, social studies, and science.  So, is the vehement support for “school vouchers" a tacit admission by proponents that the State cannot meet its objectives and goals for Texas public schools or that much of the voting public is not convinced that Texas public schools are as good or safe they would expect?  Let’s at least be candid about why there is such an interest in having Texas government subsidize private sector educational offerings.

·      There are an estimated 5.5 million K-12students in Texas.  Every parent and/or every student has their own sense of what constitutes “education” or their own preferred concept of “educational” offering. Does the state have the duty to help every family purchase their own preferred vision of an education program?

·      If one of the interests in vouchers or ESAs is to make private education accessible to the more “disadvantaged” population, is there data that shows the tuition-assistance that would be afforded by vouchers/ESAs is enough to actually get a lot of those students into the private schools?  Or will vouchers mostly make life easier for those who already can afford private education?

·      What system of accountability will be provided for a voucher program?  Will the state track how the funds (whether in the form of vouchers or ESAs) are spent and compile disaggregated data to study the efficacy of the program?  Will someone insure that the funds are spent on accredited or credible educational programs?

·      Alternatively stated, how will the public know whether a voucher system is working? What metric will be used to determine whether the investment is good public policy?  Or is this not relevant, because the underlying interest in vouchers is simply responding to public dissatisfaction with public schools and expanding parents’ options to leave the public education system, particularly the voting population?

·      Should private sector educational programs receive public subsidies instead of spending that same money on efficiently distributing exemplary public educational offerings? The subsidy of private education over and above the state’s already major financial commitment to public education seems inconsistent with by Texas’ traditionally conservative fiscal agenda—unless the intended long-term objective is to privatize education generally.

Author:  John Janssen

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