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A school choice showdown in Texas
School choice will hit a milestone or be crushed under a millstone in Texas on Tuesday.
The Texas House of Representatives last fall defeated a bill to implement education savings accounts. The legislation would have let taxpayer dollars follow each child to the school or other education services of the family’s choice. It would have been a vital boost for Texas families whose children are stuck in underachieving‚ unsafe‚ union-ruled‚ child-indoctrinating‚ government-run public schools.
More teachers in government schools equals more money for the union. The unions benefit from governments keeping children trapped in these schools.
“Gold-standard” randomized control trials consistently show that school choice improves academic achievement among the students who enroll in these programs. Choice even improves education outcomes in the government-run schools‚ as the latter rush to improve to meet the competition. Everybody wins.
Everyone‚ that is‚ except the teachers’ unions‚ and they have a lot of money to spend on elections. These unions are behind the powerful opposition to this much-needed reform in Texas.
The Texas Senate passed the bill last fall‚ and the legislation was then blocked in the House by rural Republicans and anti-choice Democrats (which was all of them). Twenty-one Republicans voted with the Democrats against the plan‚ throwing away a victory for the state’s children and families that the GOP could have achieved easily.
Governor Greg Abbott had strongly supported the choice plan and called multiple special sessions to push the House to vote on the legislation. The legislature went out of session without passing the bill‚ and it does not meet this year.
There will be a general election in Texas this November‚ and the primary election to select candidates is Tuesday. Voters can decide whether representatives who opposed school choice will get a chance to deny education opportunities to the state’s children and families again next year.
Following the lead of fellow Republican Governor Kim Reynolds of Iowa‚ Abbott has endorsed primary challengers to Republicans who voted against the choice plan. Abbott said 89% of Texas Republican voters approve of school choice. A recent story in the Texas Tribune reported a poll found 60% of GOP primary voters said they would be less likely to vote for state House members who opposed the school choice plan last year.
It is important to note that the Texas legislation would have raised teacher salaries across the board. Government schools would have ended up with more money per pupil than before.
It turns out‚ however‚ that the education establishment does not just want more money per student — or per teacher. Teachers and education administrators want access to all the children they can rope into their rotten institutions of indoctrination and mental torture. Thus‚ they oppose choice even if it provides their schools with more money.
The teachers’ unions are the central player here. Each teacher in a government school typically ends up in the union — the unions and schools make it as difficult as possible for teachers to opt out‚ even though the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that teachers cannot be forced to join unions. More teachers in government schools equal more money for the union. The unions benefit from governments keeping children trapped in these schools.
The media openly side with the unions. The Dallas Morning News predictably depicts the Texas Republican school choice opponents as heroes‚ describing them as “stalwart‚” “defiant‚” “nonpartisan‚” “respected incumbents‚” and concerned about “the future of conservative‚ rural life.” The story claims that school-choice opponents are the real conservatives. “There’s nothing more conservative than supporting our public schools‚” the story quotes anti-choice Republican Glenn Rogers as saying.
If that is true‚ there’s also nothing more conservative than massive government deficits‚ Obamacare‚ social media censorship‚ forcibly ending fossil fuel use‚ encouraging urban crime‚ and drag queen story hours.
Texas Republicans who vote against family freedom may have ulterior motives: “Many of these legislators oppose school choice because the largest interest group in their district is the public school system‚” writes Texas Tech economics professor Alexander William Salter. “School choice won’t harm students or schools‚ but teachers’ unions‚ education bureaucrats‚ and others are worried it will diminish their government-granted privileges.”
In voting with the unions and the self-interested education establishment‚ these Republicans go against the interests of their constituents‚ “often while taking campaign contributions from teachers unions and sending their own kids to private school‚” as Salter notes.
The system is fighting as hard as it can‚ with teachers intent on stuffing the ballot boxes (legally‚ one presumes) for school choice opponents‚ Fox 7 Austin reports: “According to the [Texas American Federation of Teachers] poll‚ 92% said they will be voting in the March primary‚ and a large majority listed school choice as an issue of concern.”
Texas has open primary elections‚ meaning the Texas AFT’s 66‚000 members might save the day for Republican anti-choice candidates.
What is at stake in Texas is whether the state’s children will be forced into a system run for adults at the expense of children‚ parents‚ and taxpayers‚ or whether they will finally be freed from it.
We will find out soon whether what worked for Reynolds in Iowa will work for Abbott — and Texas schoolchildren.
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