Texas governor to sign largest US school voucher law, marking conservative shift

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: msn/Reuters

10h


(Reuters) -Texas Governor Greg Abbott will sign a law on Saturday making more than 5 million students eligible to use state funds for private schools, a watershed moment in the conservative campaign to remake public education in America. Texas is allocating $1 billion for the first two years of the program to offer parents vouchers to pay for school. It is the 16th state to make all students eligible to receive public funds for private education.

The so-called universal school choice programs are all in states whose legislatures are dominated by Republicans, who for years have accused public schools of indoctrinating children with liberal ideology. Advocates say school vouchers put control of children's education into the hands of parents. Opponents say they drain money from public schools and predominantly benefit wealthier children.

More than 1 million U.S. students use state money or benefit from tax credits to pay for private school, according to EdChoice, an advocacy group supporting vouchers. The new Texas law means all 5.3 million children in the state's elementary and high schools are eligible for vouchers, far more than in any other U.S. state.

Texas has the country's second-largest public education system. About 50 million students are taught in public schools across the U.S., according to federal data.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/texas-governor-to-sign-largest-us-school-voucher-law-marking-conservative-shift/ar-AA1E5CUD

[walkingman]

1. The Christian Right controls Texas and it sucks.

Republicans, who for years have accused public schools of indoctrinating children with liberal ideology.

The irony is the intent of the bill is to allow mostly religious schools to indoctrinate children in their religious ideology.

Abbott is a devout catholic and although this will decimate most of the rural schools in Texas the Christian Right doesn't care. Also they will not be held to the same standards or requirements as public schools.

[surfered]

2. Creating a two-tiered system. Public Schools must accept everyone. Private schools do not.

[snot]

3. What's really frustrating

is that most districts in Texas, even the conservative ones, don't want this. There are few private school options in rural districts (nor are more likely to materialize, since such areas lack sufficient population to sustain them), and they understand that the voucher system will be at the expense of their public schools. So they as well as more liberal districts have resisted vouchers for years; but Abbott & conservatives in the legislature have been determined to ram it through, and have finally succeeded.

Another example of the complete disconnect between what people actually want and what our big donor-owned representatives do.

[bluestarone]

4. Do ATHEIST'S get vouchers?

(I'm sure not)

[intrepidity]

5. Anticipating SCOTUS favorable ruling in OK?

Apparently SCOTUS is deciding a case on whether school vouchers can be used for religious schools.