Special Sessions End in Stalemate FIGHT OVER VOUCHERS BLOCKS FUNDING FOR TEACHER PAY AND OTHER EDUCATION ISSUES
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ublic education has dominated much of the discourse of the 88th Texas Legislature, both through the regular session and four consecutive special sessions. While most public education advocates hoped for higher pay for educators, more classroom support and a solution to the burgeoning teacher shortage, among other things, Gov. Greg Abbott voiced his unwavering support for a school voucher program in Texas, rebranded as an education savings account or ESA, above any other education priorities. Vouchers, by any name, would harm public education by diverting funding to private schools. In other states that have implemented vouchers, not only have those programs started small and ballooned into an expensive system, but in some cases a majority of parents accepting voucher funding already have children in private schools and use the money as a coupon, subverting the idea that vouchers represent a way for underprivileged students to access private education. Many voucher programs began with assurances that only up to a certain amount of money would be spent and that the money would not come from funds appropriated for public schools, but in almost every case, just the opposite has happened: voucher program costs grow significantly and public education funding suffers for it. With a “modest” $500 million as a starting point, a Texas voucher program could eventually drain billions if it siphons an increasing number of students from public schools. During floor debate in April on HB 1, the House general appropriations bill, Rep. Abel Herrero proposed an amendment to the budget that would prevent the use of public funding for voucher programs. The amendment has been proposed and accepted in previous sessions, and has always been seen as a test of where House members stand on the issue. The Herrero amendment passed 86-52 with 11 abstentions, temporarily crippling any voucher proposals and signaling to Abbott that opposition to vouchers remained strong. Twenty-four Republicans, most from rural districts that do not stand to benefit from such legislation, joined Democrats in voting against voucher funding. The Senate passed SB 8, its ESA proposal, on the same day the House ensured it would not be funded. Late in the regular session, the House Public Education Committee heard a 14
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modified version of SB 8 that added school funding increases, teacher pay raises and changes to the state accountability system to the existing voucher elements; this bill served as a precursor to other bills introduced in the special sessions that followed. The regular session concluded without passage of a voucher bill and without new funding for schools or educator pay raises, despite a historic budget surplus and $5 billion reserved in the budget for education purposes. Abbott vowed to call special sessions until a suitable voucher bill reached his desk. The first two special sessions primarily concerned tax legislation, but beginning with the third special session, Abbott spelled out his demands in no uncertain terms: that the legislature shall “consider and act upon ... legislation providing education savings accounts for all Texas schoolchildren.” In addition to testing legislators’ patience in returning to Austin for repeated special sessions, Abbott threatened to support primary challengers to any Republicans who continued to vote against vouchers. Over the summer, House Speaker Dade Phelan convened the Select Committee on Educational Opportunity and Enrichment, which met to hear invited testimony on the state of public education in Texas. Among those invited were two TCTA members who traveled to Austin to share their personal accounts of the struggles teachers face in the classroom today. TCTA Executive Board member Vivian Burleson of Northside ISD and Directors’ Council member Tommy Evans of Abilene ISD spoke about stagnant pay, increasing class size and lack of support in the classroom. The committee later released a report summarizing its findings, proposing a modest salary increase for teachers, adjustments to the Teacher Incentive Allotment and another attempt at an ESA.
Boot vouchers
In October, a number of education groups held a “Give Vouchers the Boot!” rally on the steps of the Capitol. TCTA members from across the state, including a contingent from the Rio Grande Valley led by State President Nydia AlvarezAlonzo, joined other Texas educators to send a clear message to the governor that vouchers are not a tenable policy in Continued on page 16