At the October regularly scheduled meeting of the SISD Board of Trustees (Monday, October 23), board members voted unanimously to adopt a resolution that, “calls on the Texas Legislature to reject any diversion of public dollars to private entities in the form of education savings accounts or similar voucher proposals.”
The resolution comes in response to new legislation being proposed and considered during the third special session by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives. The bill would make an “Education Savings Account” program available to Texas students and thereby diverting taxpayer funds from Texas public education.
“Vouchers, ESAs or whatever label you want to put on them are bad for Texas education,” SISD Board President Brad Cravens said. “Any system or structure that removes funding from our public schools and then provides to private schools with no accountability or income requirements is not good for Texas and it’s not good for Sunnyvale.”
SISD joins public school districts across the state who are drastically underfunded — having not seen an increase in the basic allotment (the funding mechanism for public schools) since 2019. Additionally, the state has also not increased funding for teacher salaries and the newly required safety standards through HB 3.
And, although the Texas Legislature sits on a state surplus for education, Governor Abbot has rejected releasing these funds until the legislature addresses education savings accounts/vouchers.
“I want to make sure that we provide a carrot to make sure this legislation gets passed,” the governor said at the TPPF Parent Empowerment Summit on Oct. 12. “Once ESAs are passed, I will put on the legislative call the full funding for public education, including teacher pay raises for teachers across the state.”
If passed, taxpayers can expect their dollars to be diverted away from their local public schools toward private educational entities — groups that may choose which students to admit and could have no support for special education programs. Private schools also do not have to comply with the same accountability standards as public schools — yet another fiscal draw from public education’s coffers.
“As inflation has steadily increased to record highs, school districts need to maintain competitive teacher salaries and continue providing resources necessary for a quality education,” Superintendent Matt Kimball said. “Texas public school districts like Sunnyvale are accountable to their community through financial and academic accountability. Our Board, elected by the community, is directly accountable to our taxpayers. A voucher system would not only take funding away from our schools, but provide it to private schools which do not have to provide the same requirements nor accountability. We are proud of the robust education we provide students in Sunnyvale.”
Some lawmakers question the constitutionality of the bill. Article 7, Section 1 of the Texas Constitution requires that the Texas Legislature, “establish and make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools.”
“It is our duty as elected officials to support a public education in Texas,” Board Vice President Linda Gooch said. “Our legislators owe the student of Texas their support.”
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DID YOU KNOW…?
Because of record inflation, public schools need more than $14 billion in new per-student funding to have the same buying power as in 2019. The state only provided $2.6 billion during the regular session.
Some estimates indicate that Texas is in the bottom 10 states in per student funding nationally and would need to invest $20 billion per year just to reach the national average.
Texas has the 9th largest economy in the world.
More than 90% of students in Texas are educated in public schools.
Our students are the future workforce of Texas.
Every dollar invested in Texas Public Schools generates $57 in economic benefit to the state, which means providing schools funding to offset inflation could generate nearly $800 billion in economic benefit over the long term.
The state expects record increases in revenue over the next two years. These increases are more than enough to cover increased funding for schools even after the property tax relief provided earlier this year.
The Texas Comptroller has revised his estimated revenue up once again and is no longer projecting even a mild recession for Texas.
Comptroller Hegar has now twice recommended that the legislature use the increased revenue to make generationally-impactful investments in public education.
There is no better investment for the future of the Texas economy than investing in our public schools.
Our teachers and students performed far better than expected in the past 2 years virtually wiping out the COVID-19 learning loss that was projected to last for decades.
But that growth cannot be sustained when teachers are fleeing the profession because of stagnant pay amid massive increases in the cost of living and a perceived lack of value of the profession by lawmakers.
Please consider contacting your representatives and share your thoughts about investing in public education to keep Texas a top state for businesses.
Sources:
https://www.perrymangroup.com/...
https://www.texastribune.org/2...
Voucher Information
Resources
Texas Tribune: House, Senate bills at odds over power to boost future funding for Texas school voucher program
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/20/texas-house-senate-voucher-costs/
WFAA: State Representative says Democrats and rural Republicans are holding firm against school vouchers in Texas House
The Dallas Morning News: More money for public schools, teachers tied to fate of school choice bill in Texas
The Dallas Morning News Editorial: Voucher plans are giving up on our education system
Contact Your Legislator
SISD will be watching closely as the legislature considers these important topics and we want you to follow along as well. Please educate yourselves on these issues and stay engaged. Please contact your lawmakers to express your opinions, concerns, and thoughts. You can find out who represents you in the state capitol by going to Who Represents Me? (texas.gov) and typing in your address.