The people who run Texas’ public schools have had it rough, I guess. They continually claim the schools are underfunded, that teachers aren’t supported, and the STAAR test and A-F Accountability ratings are unfair. But it seems the ultimate and most unacceptable indignity is the idea that they should be more responsive to parents – the very people they are supposed to serve.
On Friday, at the behest of teachers’ unions and superintendents, 84 House members voted to eliminate an education savings account program that would give parents some right to choose how education dollars were spent on their kids. The ESA would let parents choose the school that works best for their children and use the money for other education-related expenses, like transportation, special tutoring, or other materials.
The threat of parents no longer being trapped in failing schools must have struck tremendous fear into the hearts of school leaders. By eliminating ESAs, they have effectively stalled the bill, which is a shame. The proposal addressed many of the problems they were supposedly concerned about.
It added $7 billion in new funding, on top of the $6 billion in new money already appropriated and issued this year – making it the largest single education funding increase in state history. The proposal included significant support to recruit, retain, and reward the best teachers in Texas. It improved teacher work / life balance, offered a pathway to a six-figure salary, included a $4,000 bonus, increased the Basic Allotment, and created a residency program for aspiring new teachers. HB 1 also eliminated the STAAR test, phasing it out over 3 years and setting a path to replace it with a new and improved assessment system.
Alas, despite a historic increase in funding, new benefits for teachers, including a raise and a bonus for everyone, and rethinking school assessment, it seems that empowering parents was the bridge too far. School leaders and ESA opponents in the House were willing to forgo billions of dollars because a low-income parent in a chronically failing school might be able to force someone to finally respond to her concerns.
Parents demanding better, and having real power to do something about it, is simply unacceptable.
Brian Phillips
Chief Communications Officer
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