The school choice debate has been discussed all over the nation. Texas has been one of the biggest battleground states for this topic. Governor Greg Abbott has been determined to bring school choice to Texas and called a special session to address it; still, nothing has been passed. When the primaries came around, multiple state representatives lost their seats after voting against school choice. In many of these races, Abbott endorsed their challengers. All of this has led to the debate of when school choice is coming to Texas and what Texans want to see in that bill when it does arrive.
School choice has been successful in states like Florida, where the quality of education continues to rise. On the other hand, test scores in Texas have declined over the past decade despite record-high government school spending. Clearly, funding isn’t the issue; it’s something much deeper.
School choice combats failing government schools and woke teachers through competition. Schools will be forced to improve the quality of their education to maintain their student population. This will also force government schools to be more efficient with the tax dollars entrusted to them. Almost half of the superintendents in Texas make more money per year than the governor. Wasteful spending that doesn’t improve education or retain great teachers must end.
There has been another highly concerning trend on the rise in the last few years: government school employees accused and found guilty of sex crimes. Over 100 educators were put behind bars last year alone for sex crimes against children. Parents’ concern is rightfully increasing. All schools must crack down on their hiring practices and evaluations of teachers. Defending our children from the mass sexualization of society is crucial and must be addressed when school choice is passed in Texas.
Many states have implemented a limited school choice program. In doing so, education has not improved, and those plans are viewed negatively. We must implement a universal school choice program to meet the needs of Texas families. We need a program that won’t limit what parents can access for their kids. This would enable Texans to use the tax dollars allocated for education by putting it into a different education plan.
Many people are against school choice out of fear it will destroy public schools. The only thing school choice would eliminate is already failing systems! Good quality government schools won’t lose students because it wouldn’t make sense for parents to pull their children out of an education plan that works for them. Others oppose school choice because they believe it will harm private schools. Private schools aren’t required to accept tax dollars, so if the school wants to stay as it is, it can. Others oppose school choice because they believe it will regulate homeschool education. Texas has a massive homeschooling population! This is why we do not want to pass a bill restricting the monies granted to homeschool parents.
The state of Texas has some big decisions to make regarding which school choice route it will take. Two things we know for certain are that Texans want school choice and would vastly raise the quality of education for young Texans. The indoctrination happening in public schools all over the nation must come to an end, and parental rights and freedoms must be restored. The best way Texas can do that is through school choice!
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