TEXAS, USA — Texas lawmakers returned to the Capitol on Monday, Oct. 9 for the start of the third special legislative session. Governor Greg Abbott called the session for lawmakers to focus on several of his priorities, including education savings accounts (ESA) which are also known as school vouchers.
ESA would allow parents to use taxpayer money to help pay for tuition for private or charter schools, but for 10 months now lawmakers have had tremendous opposition -- from both chambers, all parties and also from rural to urban areas.
"There's a pretty big divide between what the Senate wants and what the House is willing to accept," said Rep. Hugh Shine for District 55.
Shine represents much of rural Bell County and has ties to both education sectors, public and private.
"My wife was on the board for Central Texas Christian School here in Temple for over nine years," Shine said. "My son went to Academy public school. I'm a product of public school. We understand both sides. We can see the whole picture."
Shine told 6 News he believes public money should stay in the public channel, but it comes down to accountability. He also has concerns because Texas is already not funding public education adequately.
"The last thing we need to do is to dismantle a public education system by taking funding away without any real clear accountability in that process," the Representative added. "When we are talking about the use of public money, I think there needs to be a very high standard of how that money is allocated and where that money goes. I feel very strongly about the accountability aspect. You show me the accountability and how it's going to work and I will make a decision based on that."
Shine said to share any opinion about education savings accounts, he would need to see the substance of what they are going to be considering in this special session.
The Texas House quickly gaveled out after gaveling in. They will reconvene on Thursday, Oct. 12 to start addressing agenda items.
In the Senate, the Finance Committee met on Oct. 9 to consider legislation to pump new money into public schools, a concept some lawmakers need to pass Abbott's priority. There was a $5.2 billion school funding bill filed that would help school officials with the rising costs of running a district by increasing the basic allotment, providing teacher raises and directing more funding for school safety.
Bob Popinski with Raise Your Hand Texas, a nonprofit for public education advocacy, said he thinks any school voucher program in the state could cause setbacks and issues.
"If Texas does move forward with any type of voucher program, they better demand the same results from those private schools and vendors as they do from our public schools," Popinski said. "Parents and communities don't want to abandon their public schools. They just want to make them better and if you look at Texas, we're $4,000 behind the national average and per pupil funding. We're $7,500 behind the national average in teacher pay. We have a lot to focus on for our 5.5 million kids before you even think about a policy that has been proven not to work in other states."
Popinski would like to see lawmakers and the Governor focus on the majority of Texas students first.
"Texas needs to be incredibly cautious if it's going to pass a voucher program because a lot is on the line not only in funding but, the future of Texas and in the economic engine that our public school students drive in this state," said Popinski.