General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTexas billionaires are spending millions to support private school vouchers
Texas Republicans bankrolled by Christian conservative donors are hoping to ride a wave of parental anger over the teaching of race and sexuality in schools to achieve what has long been an unattainable goal: state funding for private education.
Groups committed to giving parents the option of sending their children to private schools using taxpayer dollars sometimes known as school choice or vouchers have given millions of dollars to Republican candidates in Texas this year, helping win key races and pushing some establishment lawmakers further to the right on the issue. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott recently pledged to make school choice a priority in the next legislative session if he wins re-election over Democratic challenger Beto ORourke.
As a result, political observers say, public school funding is effectively on the ballot Tuesday.
The push for private school vouchers has been funded in large part by Defend Texas Liberty, a Christian nationalist-aligned political action committee led by a former far-right Republican state lawmaker and bankrolled by a pair of West Texas billionaires. The PAC has spent nearly $10 million this year, largely backing candidates who support public funding for private education and attacking those who oppose it, according to an NBC News analysis of Texas Ethics Commission campaign finance reports and data compiled by the nonprofit OpenSecrets.
Defend Texas Liberty did not respond to messages requesting interviews with PAC leaders.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-politicians-far-right-christian-megadonors-rcna55546
Rottinghaus? Could someone come up with a more appropriate name?
Lovie777
(12,260 posts)the weight of gold, silver, jewels. All will be worth -0- and they will be like the rest of us and like the 1920s, many will not be able to cope with it. Ya need to let the Democrats save the economy and screw those one sided vouchers and private schools that will teach the children nothing but hatred under the disguise of so call Christianity.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)Charter schools are also not required to follow IEPs!
Jim__
(14,076 posts)keithbvadu2
(36,800 posts)All children must be accepted in their charter schools.
No cherry picking of students.
Too many applicants? Lottery.
No extra fees from the families.
lindysalsagal
(20,683 posts)Because charter schools have share holders and profits.
LetMyPeopleVote
(145,231 posts)I have a land line and I will answer calls from pollsters. It is never hard to figure out who is paying the pollster and I enjoy adding my opinions to these polls even if the pollster was hoping for different results. I have been polled twice this year by two different pollsters (one electronic and the other a live person) on adopting vouchers for private schools in Texas. The GOP really wants to kill public schools and force children to go to private schools.
Greg Abbott, Dan Patiick and the Texaz GOP really want to kill public schools and replace these schools with vouchers for private schools.
Link to tweet
https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/inside-the-secret-plan-to-bring-private-school-vouchers-to-texas/
In a document obtained by Texas Monthly, stamped Confidential and dated May 3the day after Bonewald was named the sole finalist for the joba Republican political operative and a politically connected charter-school executive laid out an explosive proposal for Wimberly [sic] ISD. (Out-of-towners frequently misspell Wimberley, much to the annoyance of locals.) Apparently, the plan had been in the works for months and had been vetted by the outgoing superintendent. But Bonewald said no one had bothered to mention it to him.....
Their confidential proposal went like this: Wimberley would partner with Harris and Bennetts Texans for Education Rights Institute to create a charter school tentatively dubbed the Texas Achievement Campus. But campus was a misnomer, because there would be none. The school would exist only on paper. Texans for Education Rights would then work with ResponsiveEd, Whitehursts group, to place K12 students from around the state into private schools of their choice at no cost to their families.
Their confidential proposal went like this: Wimberley would partner with Harris and Bennetts Texans for Education Rights Institute to create a charter school tentatively dubbed the Texas Achievement Campus. But campus was a misnomer, because there would be none. The school would exist only on paper. Texans for Education Rights would then work with ResponsiveEd, Whitehursts group, to place K12 students from around the state into private schools of their choice at no cost to their families. .....
Two weeks later, on August 3, the board voted 42 to scrap the proposal. At that meeting, trustee Andrea Justus, upset that a majority of the board had changed its mind, argued that TEA is 100 percent supportive of the program. Thats not the only evidence of high-level TEA support. In June, Bonewald met with two TEA charter specialists; afterward, he summarized his notes in a missive to his board. According to Bonewald, Morath was aware of this potential partnership and would support TEA staff providing technical support to the District at no cost to WISD. The notes also reference a set of challenges raised by TEA, including a question of how WISD would ensure private schools serving WISD students outside the community are following state-mandated curriculum.
When I spoke to Basel, he conceded that his reputation didnt help his cause. But he hasnt given up on passing the voucher program. Its still my goal, he told me. Other districts are considering it. He declined to name which ones.
hamsterjill
(15,220 posts)James R. Leininger.
https://tfn.org/following-the-money/