A local school district passed a resolution last week opposing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s efforts to pass school choice legislation in the Lone Star State.
Mansfield Independent School District passed a resolution that called on the Texas Legislature to keep public dollars in public education. Further, the resolution claimed that education savings accounts and school voucher schemes “give private schools, not parents, the right to choose” and “eliminate public accountability of schools and tax dollars.”
“Mansfield ISD believes fully funding Texas Public Schools should be the top priority of the Texas Legislature,” the resolution states.
“[P]rivate schools are not required to meet the same academic standards as public schools, and they are not required to report test results, graduation rates, and other performance measures to the public,” the resolution continues.
Abbott sent a letter Friday to Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan, notifying them to schedule a special session on October 9. The session is likely to focus on school vouchers, according to The Texas Tribune.
The Mansfield ISD resolution calls on the Texas Legislature to “reject any diversion of public dollars to private entities in the form of education savings accounts and similar voucher schemes.”
Abbott has pushed for school choice legislation throughout the year, most emphatically during the legislative session. But opposition from Democrats and some House Republicans led the legislative effort to stall. The governor threatened to veto any watered-down version of the school choice bill passed in the Senate, and then a House effort to pass the bill eventually failed.
“The time is NOW for school choice in Texas,” Abbott tweeted in April. “School choice legislation has passed the Texas Senate and is moving through the House this week. Parents MUST have the freedom to choose the best education path for their child.”
“Parents are their children’s first teachers,” Abbott tweeted in August. “When it comes to decisions about a child’s education, parents’ voices matter most. Delivering school choice for EVERY family in Texas will restore parents as the primary decision-makers in their child’s education.”