Late on Monday night, a Texas House committee took testimony on a massive school voucher bill that would siphon billions of tax dollars away from already cash-strapped public schools to pay for tuition at private and religious schools. This legislation was crafted as a proposed amendment (that never made it to the House floor) to budget legislation during the regular legislative session, but state Rep. Sid Miller, R-Stephenville, has re-filed it in the current special session as HB 33.
HB 33 doesn’t specifically mention vouchers, instead calling the scheme a “Taxpayer Savings Grant Program.†But make no mistake — this is a voucher program through and through. And not only is it huge (open to nearly every public school student in the state), it apparently would also force the state to be more generous in its per-student funding for private schools than it is for public schools.
David Thompson, spokesman for the Texas Association of School Administrators, Texas Association of School Boards and the Texas School Alliance explained the voucher would be equal to 60 percent of the average state and local spending per-student expenditure in a year. Problem is, the state on average doesn’t pay 60 percent of that cost – local districts carry a bigger share.
“What this bill proposes to do is create a voucher with no accountability that is hundreds of dollars more on average than what the state has just proposed to spend on public school students.â€
Yes, that’s right. According to Thompson, the bill would actually have the state of Texas (not counting local or federal funds) pay more for a student to attend a private school than a public school. Here’s the math (courtesy of Mr. Thompson):
Under the just-adopted HB1, the average state expenditure under the Foundation School Program for the coming biennium will be $2,922 per weighted student. Under HB33, the proposed voucher would be $3,971 per weighted student, for a difference of $1,049 per weighted student more for the voucher than for a student in the public schools.
More details can be found here, by Dr. Ed Fuller, associate director of Research for the University Council of Educational Administration.
Please call your state rep now and tell him/her you oppose HB 33.
You can call your state rep on Texas AFT’s toll-free line: 1-888-836-8368.
Don’t know for sure who represents you in the Texas House? No problem. You can find out quickly here.
Regards,
Jim
Andy Hailey