The Texas House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to prevent the authorization or funding of vouchers.
“Members of the Texas House of Representatives officially registered their disgust with a school choice program that would funnel state funds to private schools Thursday by voting to ban the practice in the state’s next two-year budget.
“Lawmakers in the midst of what promises to be an hours-long slog debating the state’s spending plan for the next biennium voted 103-44 in favor of an amendment expressly stating state money “may not be used to pay for or support a school voucher, education savings account, or tax credit scholarship program or a similar program through which a child may use state money for nonpublic education.”
“The House then rejected a follow-up pitch to allow children from poor families to use such a program. The chamber voted that idea down 117-27….
“Rep. Abel Herrero, a Robstown Democrat who sponsored the amendment, said the vote shows the House is steadfast against a voucher program, whether it applies to all students or a smaller swath of kids.
“The vote today sends a resounding message that schemes like vouchers, tax credits, savings programs, call it what you may, at the end of the day, it’s a method in which it seeks to siphon away moneys from our public schools,” said Herrero. “The House,with the vote today, strongly took a position in support of our public schools, our public school teachers.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The Koch brothers cabal of billionaires and millionaires that includes DeVos are just going to have to spend more money to get more of their minions elected to state legislatures until they control the majority vote. I wonder how much they spent on this one that just lost.
Texas may have said “no”, but Arizona is in the process of saying “yes”. The Grand Canyon State, may soon have the nation’s first universal, school-choice program. Educational savings accounts have had some amazing success in Arizona.
Please see
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/446481/arizona-universal-school-choice-program-doug-ducey-education-savings-account?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Trending%20Email%20Reoccurring-%20Monday%20to%20Thursday%202017-04-06&utm_term=NR5PM%20Actives
Tough luck, Charles!
I have not lived in Texas since 1974. If the legislature has chosen not to move forward on school choice, that is their right. That is the benefit of 50 states in our federal system. What works in Delaware, may not work in Idaho.
Many public schools in Texas are excellent. The schools in Baytown, TX (where many of the citizens work for NASA) are some of the finest in the nation.
Vouchers don’t work anywhere.
They hurt children by putting them in low-cost religious schools with unaccredited teachers. FAIL!
Q Vouchers don’t work anywhere.
They hurt children by putting them in low-cost religious schools with unaccredited teachers. FAIL! END Q
I tend to avoid generalities. There are parents, all over the USA, who have enrolled their children in non-public schools. The fact that the parents exercised their free choice, to do so, tells me that the parents are satisfied with their choices.
And, some voucher recipients enroll their children in private schools, and military schools, and home schools.
When parents are empowered with school choice/vouchers, the parents will have more financial resources, and then be able to enroll their children in more expensive religious schools, with higher-paid teachers. Quality will improve for these children, and isn’t this what we all should want?
The Roman Catholics did not just “jump up” one morning, and decide to set up schools, They were unhappy with the public schools attempts to “protestantize”, their children. This is a documented historical fact.
Q Charles, you lack a heart, a soul, and care for the common good. Other than that, you are ok. END Q
I disagree. I have all of these attributes, and then some. I support the constitution, the bill of rights, and the Supreme Court. Some states have brought in school choice/vouchers. Some states choose to keep a unified, single-payer public school system, with limited choices.
Don’t attack the messenger, just because you do not agree with the message.
Guess who is getting vouchers in Nevada? Affluent families.
Families from some of the more affluent areas of Reno and Las Vegas are qualified. See
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/02/can-a-universal-voucher-program-succeed/515436/
Charles, you lack a heart, a soul, and care for the common good. Other than that, you are ok.
The National Review?!? I wouldn’t trust the air they breathe.
In short, The National Review is a far right vomit rocket.
Has a wide conservative spectrum — paleo-conservatives, neo-conservatives, tea-party enthusiasts, the deeply religious and the agnostic, both libertarians and social conservatives, free-marketeers and the more protectionist—characterizes National Review. The magazine has been described as “the bible of American conservatism”.
Buckley said in 2005 that the magazine had lost about $25,000,000 over fifty years. The magazine stays afloat by donations from subscribers and black-tie fund raisers around the country.
Buckley was not some kind of decent conservative, his history has been white washed. He was not a nice person. He was a big fan of Franco and Augusto Pinochet. In the 1950s, Buckley made some serious racist and white supremacist comments in the NR. Did Buckley ever recant or apologize for his open racism of the 1950s? He used words as weapons; his massive vocabulary of archaic and ethereal words were used to browbeat and befuddle his debate opponents. He did not use these words for enlightenment but rather to intimidate. I remember once he came up with the word “energumen.” I had to head to the dictionary for that word. His vast vocabulary did not intimidate Gore Vidal who also had his own great vocabulary. Vidal accurately described WFB as a crypto-fascist.
Here is an article from the US News and World Report, posted just a couple of hours ago. (It is a more mainstream publication, than the NR)
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/arizona/articles/2017-04-06/arizona-legislature-to-debate-big-school-voucher-expansion
I am pleasantly shocked and stunned that right wing Texas would say no to vouchers. The Texas House of Representatives is controlled by the GOP. When did the GOP ever say no to vouchers for anything. They want vouchers for schools, for Medicare, for Social Security (sort of). In any case, that is good news in a sea of Trumpian bad news.
The rural GOP doesn’t want vouchers.
Republican Speaker Joe Strauss is a pillar of strength.
CRTA, California Retired Teachers Association, is saying no to vouchers. Don’t forget retirees who can help fight many educational battles and are doing so. We still care!
Our challenge remains, however, given the lack of leadership in the Senate. Nice to meet you last week in Austin, Diane. I look forward to engaging further and invite you to read my blog at craigrothmeier.blogspot.com. Thank you.
Craig Rothmeier
President – Make Education a Priority
Thanks, Craig. My advice: Dan Patrick has to be replaced. He does not represent the people of Texas.
Here is the latest on the Texas legislation. (22 hours ago)
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/04/06/texas-lt-gov-dan-patrick-asked-house-vote-school-choice-he-got-it/
Yes!