Texas Taxpayers Will Fund Dozens of Private Schools that Openly Discriminate
The state has signed off on voucher funds for schools that exclude non-Christian and LGBTQ+ kids.
Since 1954
The state has signed off on voucher funds for schools that exclude non-Christian and LGBTQ+ kids.
A note from the editor-in-chief
The Legislature’s lower chamber has finally blessed school vouchers—and denied ordinary Texans the chance to weigh in.
The governor crushed anti-voucher Republicans in the Texas House, but there are still plenty of party activists who are opposed.
"Somebody had to eat the first oyster." With that salty metaphor, Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock makes the argument that elected officials shouldn't be afraid to try new ideas—in this case, vouchers that would shift taxpayers' moneys from public to private schools.
Dems could do little but sound the alarm on vouchers—and warn the $7.7-billion school-finance package is still not enough.
“There is a disconnect between the rhetoric and what the bill actually says,” Democrat James Talarico summarized of House Bill 3.
The Legislature’s current proposals put a handful of private contractors in the driver’s seat. Other states have already seen problems.
Another bad idea whose time has come in the Texas Legislature is upon us. It's time to revive my old proposal that Texas be made into a national laboratory for bad government. Having a bad idea in your state? Come to Texas and see how it works out in practice.
Vouchers become subsidies for families who had already decided to pay for private school, at the expense of public schools that must serve all students.