WHITEHOUSE, Texas — Lawmakers in Austin are debating the future of school funding in Texas, with the "school choice" bill at the top of their minds.
Senate Bill 1 would incentivize parents in Texas to send their kids to private schools by offering them $8,000 in taxpayer money to help with school costs.
"With the special session that’s been called, and the work that’s being done in Austin, we are just imploring our representatives and senators to remember that the goal here is to serve every Texas public school student, and every student in Texas period. Our future depends on it," said Christopher Moran, Whitehouse ISD Superintendent
Moran said school vouchers could suck the air out of Texas public school operations. Not only does Moran feel it's a misuse of state money, he says public schools have been asking for monetary help from the state and haven’t received it.
"It’s really a slap in the face to our teachers. Last month, the teacher vacancy task force issued a report at the request of the governor. The report recommended increasing teacher compensation, training, and overall support for schools, and that has not happened," Moran said.
Public school officials are concerned that these school vouchers are going to take kids out of their classrooms and put them into private schools, which could take away some funding and potential resources. However, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is not concerned about this.
"That’s not the case. We can have it both ways. We can both improve public education while at the very same time, empowering our parents," Abbott said.
Abbott claims that these school vouchers will empower parents and allow them to send their children to schools that maybe they couldn’t afford before. Moran thinks the power will lie elsewhere.
"Parents already have a choice in Texas. We have a lot of parents in our district that choose to homeschool their student, send them to private schools, and we support that, that is a parent’s choice," Moran said. "But at the end of the day, the choice will not be the parents if vouchers are passed. It will be the private schools who have the choice on who to admit, and who not to admit."