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School choice is a growing topic of concern for many Texans. Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) was one of the bills in the last legislative session attempting to bring school choice to Texas families. SB 1 would have established an Educational Savings Account (ESA) for families that could be used to help pay for private school or homeschooling. An ESA will be granted to a student when they transfer out of the local government school or when they are ready to begin kindergarten. The ESA could help pay for private school tuition or for school materials needed for homeschooling. This bill led to an energetic debate! Many of the legislators who voted against the bill lost their primary election for one simple reason: Texans want school choice!
Despite record-high funding, Texas government schools continue to showcase declining test scores. Texas public education is failing its students.
Beyond the failures in the classrooms, many schools are spending crucial time focusing on gay pride events, sexuality, and radical Marxist ideas. The constant propaganda being forced on our children is unacceptable!
Government schools also have high-dollar lobbyists. Right now, these lobbyists are trying to convince private or homeschool parents that school choice will make things worse for their kids. They claim the money allocated to each student will allow the government to regulate private schools and homeschools.
This isn’t the case. Competition leads to success! When government schools face competition, they are forced to either raise the quality of education being provided or be shut down. This actually benefits good teachers: schools will want to hire only the best teachers and will be careful about who they hire as principals.
SB 1 was not the perfect school choice bill. We expect to see continued debate on this issue in the upcoming legislative session. Governor Abbott has been very vocal about passing some form of school choice in the session. It will be up to parents and Texans to stay engaged and make sure our legislators pass a bill strong for family and parental rights. Make sure you keep reading our emails and articles for any updates about this hot-button issue!