They see the writing on the wall and prefer to be on the right side of history.

Thelan's nuts have been cut and they no longer need to worry about him.

Now, make sure it's a GOOD school choice bill.

No "means testing" or "supplemental" or anything like that. Parents of EVERY student should have 100% control of where 100% of their tuition goes to. It should NOT be limited to current public schools, and should even be eligible to be spent for home schooling.

All it took was firing a bunch of anti-school choice reps for the rest to see the writing on the wall

But, we've been told a million time that the "rural voters" hate the idea of school choice and would never allow it to happen.

Well, they will still vote Dade for Speaker so....

How does school choice affect those parents that rent their residence since technically they do not pay any school taxes. Yes, I know the taxes are built into their rental rate.

dBoy99 said:

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Well, they will still vote Dade for Speaker so....

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Doubt it. Phelan will not be speaker.

TexasAggie73 said:

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How does school choice affect those parents that rent their residence since technically they do not pay any school taxes. Yes, I know the taxes are built into their rental rate.

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You answered your own question! lol

Irish 2.0 said:

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dBoy99 said:

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Well, they will still vote Dade for Speaker so....

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Doubt it. Phelan will not be speaker.

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Phelan is done as speaker!

Irish 2.0 said:

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dBoy99 said:

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Well, they will still vote Dade for Speaker so....

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Doubt it. Phelan will not be speaker.

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Hide and watch, he only needs 12 "Republicans" to vote for him...

He lost 15 of his 21 loyalists in primaries. Add these 2 and he's at 17 lost. He isn't going to be speaker.

Irish 2.0 said:

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He lost 15 of his 21 loyalists in primaries. Add these 2 and he's at 17 lost. He isn't going to be speaker.

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I hope you're right, but...

aTmAg said:

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Now, make sure it's a GOOD school choice bill.

No "means testing" or "supplemental" or anything like that. Parents of EVERY student should have 100% control of where 100% of their tuition goes to. It should NOT be limited to current public schools, and should even be eligible to be spent for home schooling.

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Why not just get rid of public schools and school taxes altogether?

Kuempel's anti-school choice vote was a big reason Schoolcraft unseated him as the (R) nominee for TX district 44 state rep.

****ing politicians. Only changing their tune to ensure they continue their power.

School choice isn't the same as a means tested voucher plan.

CDUB98 said:

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****ing politicians. Only changing their tune to ensure they continue their power.

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I know one personally that's always been for choice but was strongly against the previous voucher program.

And that's fine…I'd bet most on here are probably in the same camp.

The problem is, most reps just said NO and didn't spend more than 15 seconds explaining their choice. If you have problems with the bill, then spend a little time talking with your constituents and explain why the proposed bill was bad and what you want to see changed.

AND THEN WORK TO MAKE THE CHANGE!!

So many are terrified of being held to their positions that no one wants to actually govern. Hopefully this incoming group will do that.

I was speaking about one of the two Reps in the OP... he's spoken at great lengths about it.

Corey is an atheist long time liberal. School choice is a non issue.

I fully support the punishment/defeat of all reps who voted for Paxtons impeachment however.

Liberal + school choice

That and voting to impeach Paxton. He lost my vote because of those two things, not to mention when I did email his office expressing my displeasure about these two items I got a snarky response talking down to me. So glad he's gone

16 of the 21 Republicans who voted against school choice in the last session lost their seats in the 2024 primaries. Both chambers of the legislature have school choice majorities for the first time ever. They know school choice is going to pass, so they are trying to save themselves from a primary in 2026 by an Abbott challenger. Abbott had over a 70 percent success rate in primary challenges against anti school choice incumbents in 2024. That type of success rate is incredible because incumbents usually win 95 percent of the time.

I'm asking this as I really haven't followed this as closely as I should and am looking for an honest answer. Let me preface this discussion by saying all my kids have attended private school from K-12.

So in the system being proposed I would receive a voucher I could apply towards private school tuition costs? My first thought is that all this will do is encourage private schools to raise their tuition more "because they can."

Also, does this mean that a person living in a lower income part of town can now send their kid to a public school in a higher income part of town? Will they be required to foot the difference in taxes out of their own pocket?

Private schools would indeed raise tuition. New schools would open.

And what difference in taxes are you talking about? The state pays out a rate per student. That rated amount would go to the school the kid attends.

Irish 2.0 said:

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Liberal + school choice

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Maybe he's just REALLY pro choice

The tears will be flowing AGAIN in the Dallas Morning News's "Letters" section of the Sunday's Opinion page.

I'm not against school choice but the last session's HB 1 was a ham-fisted spending spree that increased public school spending by billions and then added a few more billion for a brand new entitlement program.

In a nutshell, $10,500 per kid administered by an NGO that was commissioned up to 5% of the amount of vouchers the ngo administers combined for "administrating." The out-of-staters funding Abbott's effort to unseat likely have lots of money to make administering vouchers, building new private schools, and etc.

Many of the reps unseated were in rural news deserts and the reps didn't have independent journalists countering the campaign fibs. Not that anyone today gives 2 flips about truth reports, even when spending billions on this with little accountability.

A_Gang_Ag_06 said:

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I'm asking this as I really haven't followed this as closely as I should and am looking for an honest answer. Let me preface this discussion by saying all my kids have attended private school from K-12.

So in the system being proposed I would receive a voucher I could apply towards private school tuition costs? My first thought is that all this will do is encourage private schools to raise their tuition more "because they can."

Also, does this mean that a person living in a lower income part of town can now send their kid to a public school in a higher income part of town? Will they be required to foot the difference in taxes out of their own pocket?

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Most of the answers you're looking for are unknowable right now. I think we'll see something different from the most recent versions because of the election churn.

I'm interested in your perspective. How would you personally react if the school(s) your children attend increase prices? (I'm talking the size of increase that makes it obvious it's a direct response, in proportion to, the amount of voucher money their customers now have access to? Not the normal annual CPI increase they all do.

RufusAg said:

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aTmAg said:

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Now, make sure it's a GOOD school choice bill.

No "means testing" or "supplemental" or anything like that. Parents of EVERY student should have 100% control of where 100% of their tuition goes to. It should NOT be limited to current public schools, and should even be eligible to be spent for home schooling.

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Why not just get rid of public schools and school taxes altogether?

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We should. That is my #1 option and one that I have been pushing here for over 2 decades now. But I'll take a good voucher plan as a 2nd place option.

I'm glad a lot more people here are on board. Back in the day, I was arguing with almost everybody on that.

aTmAg said:

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RufusAg said:

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aTmAg said:

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Now, make sure it's a GOOD school choice bill.

No "means testing" or "supplemental" or anything like that. Parents of EVERY student should have 100% control of where 100% of their tuition goes to. It should NOT be limited to current public schools, and should even be eligible to be spent for home schooling.

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Why not just get rid of public schools and school taxes altogether?

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We should. That is my #1 option and one that I have been pushing here for over 2 decades now. But I'll take a good voucher plan as a 2nd place option.

I'm glad a lot more people here are on board. Back in the day, I was arguing with almost everybody on that.

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I don't think this will ever happen. I would consider supporting something like a scaled down version of public education for children who have a very low aptitude. Teach them to read, and basic 4 function math. Nothing past that. I think there's a benefit to society from that, but I don't like throwing good money after bad on kids who are in the 12th grade, who got discouraged and gave up on school in the 5th grade because they couldn't hack it.

I would be angry. I see this as negatively affecting lower income private school parents. Those parents will not be given the same sized voucher that the parents in higher income areas. Yet I guarantee you that the school will raise tuition in line with those higher income vouchers. You will further price those families out of the market. I would say I fall somewhere in between income wise. Private school is a huge sacrifice for me. I live in a modest home so that I could afford it. My sister went the other direction. She bought a McMansion in Dripping Springs to get into their public school system there. For me, living modestly and sending my children to private school>high dollar house/public school district.

As I currently understand the proposals, I wouldn't support school choice. But I am always open to hearing the argument for it to educate myself. I have already stated I don't know a lot about the proposed system.

Bob Lee said:

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aTmAg said:

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RufusAg said:

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aTmAg said:

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Now, make sure it's a GOOD school choice bill.

No "means testing" or "supplemental" or anything like that. Parents of EVERY student should have 100% control of where 100% of their tuition goes to. It should NOT be limited to current public schools, and should even be eligible to be spent for home schooling.

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Why not just get rid of public schools and school taxes altogether?

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We should. That is my #1 option and one that I have been pushing here for over 2 decades now. But I'll take a good voucher plan as a 2nd place option.

I'm glad a lot more people here are on board. Back in the day, I was arguing with almost everybody on that.

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I don't think this will ever happen. I would consider supporting something like a scaled down version of public education for children who have a very low aptitude. Teach them to read, and basic 4 function math. Nothing past that. I think there's a benefit to society from that, but I don't like throwing good money after bad on kids who are in the 12th grade, who got discouraged and gave up on school in the 5th grade because they couldn't hack it.

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What part won't happen? Pure privatization or vouchers?

And I wouldn't support any plan that taxed MORE to pay for vouches on top of our current taxes for our educational system. Our taxes dollars should merely be distributed differently and in accordance to where students choose to attend school rather than to the nearest school to where you live.

If you get rid of public schools what is the alternative you want, everyone goes to private schools or gets home schooled?

Rural public schools are already heavily subsidized thanks to Robin Hood unless you have an oil field underneath you or have some heavy industry in your backyard like a nuclear plant. The plan would work in the cities where you have wealth and/or the numbers but I don't see how most small towns could make private schools work.

The systems that they proposed before were intended to try to pass a RINO congress. I would be against those plans (as I understand them). Now that we kicked most of the RINOs to the curb, I would expect a REAL voucher plan that is as close to free market economics as possible.