Existing Program Languishes as Scholarship is Pushed
A scholarship to help students trapped in failing public schools attend a school of their choice is near the top of the legislative agenda for Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Sen. Dan Patrick, the Houston Republican who chairs the Senate Public Education Committee.
In his State of the State address this year, Perry advocated for "scholarship programs that give students a choice, especially those who are locked into low-performing schools." At a December news conference with Dewhurst, Patrick proposed a scholarship program that would allow students to attend any school, including those outside of the public education ...
Comments (6)
Orlie Wolfenbarger
Our school district has had an application for these monies on TEA's desk for months, waiting for approval. Now we are told that we have to wait until TEA writes 'new rules' on how we apply for this money. I would imagine after they write new rules, we will not be able to get it.
kelli nicklas
Those vouchers make me feel like we're giving up on our low performing schools. Instead of giving the amount of money that goes into the voucher for ONE student, how about giving that money directly to that school for better resources??? How about helping the many instead of the few?
Proud Texan
In other words, those students aren't "trapped" as some suggest. They CHOOSE not to leave or CAN'T leave for many reasons, how does a voucher or choice program change that?
Arthur M. Thomas IV via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Make the current program work correctly. Don't make two bad programs.
Allowing students to hop around government schools isn't enough. We need a scholarship program that allows parents and students choose their education like a free person and not a ward of the state.
Jeremy Jones via Texas Tribune on Facebook
our buddies in the state leg ignoring reality again and only using data that supports their thinking. questions: what happens to rural students who essentially have no choice? is this only for urban students? if he considers it immoral to tell parents that their kids have to attend a failing school, does he also consider it immoral that we allow failing schools to stay open in perpetuity or that the leg cut 4.8b from the ed budget and refuses to restore those cuts? we make a far bigger difference by linking teacher performance (on aggregate, not drilling down to an individual level) with funding to public state education colleges. we would also make a bigger difference by facilitating ways LEAs and high-performing charter can work together in turning around low-performing schools (a la YES Prep and Spring Branch ISD) and holding charter schools more accountable for performance while allowing high-performers to grow more easily with facility funding. If they really want to make a difference for kids, this voucher stuff is a waste of time.
Brian Shelley
This article and the comments reveal a gross ignorance to the situation those in poverty face. Switching to another school district can be a major logistical problem for a working class parent. Does the parent own a car? Sorry, no bus service. Is it 45 minutes or more out of the way? Guess you'll have to live with an 1 1/2 hour commute. Does the parent work shift work? Sorry, no one can pick your kid up or drop them off for you. If they could afford the inconviences of going way out of their way to transport their child, they could probably afford to move to another school district.
A voucher provides financial incentives to open private schools where the kids live, not miles and miles away. They didn't build KIPP academies in the Woodlands and expect people in Houston to drive there.