Vouchers on the backburner?; Bush backpedals on fued with SBOE; and a look back at the #blowthewhistle movement sparked by Empower Texans
November 20, 2108
Will vouchers move to the back burner for the legislative session?
The Austin American-Statesman looks at the prospect for passing private-school voucher bills, and the verdict is that it’s not good. With stiff resistance in the Texas House, which has overwhelmingly rejected vouchers in the past, there never really was much momentum for vouchers anyway. Our Texas AFT President Louis Malfaro tells the Statesman:
“And where there were contested primary elections, almost categorically the Republicans who ran as friends of public education prevailed over those who said we need more school choice, we need more vouchers; so I don’t see appetite on either side of the aisle,” said Louis Malfaro, head of Texas American Federation of Teachers.
The problem, of course, is Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and his allies in the Senate have used vouchers as a diversion and obstruction to the course of providing more funding for schools. As the story notes:
Meanwhile, the education focus at the Capitol has shifted to repairing a broken system of funding public schools. Last week, Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, the likely next speaker of the House, singled out school finance as the priority for the chamber, and Gov. Greg Abbott’s school finance plan was introduced at a meeting at the Capitol.
Bush backpedals a bit with ‘drop in the bucket’ transfer of money to State Board of Education
In what has become increasingly more silly with each headline, the Austin American-Statesman reports that Land Commissioner George P. Bush has “backpedaled slightly” on his plan to only transfer School Land Board revenue ($600 million) to the Available School Fund (ASF), instead of to the State Board of Education (SBOE) for disbursement to the Permanent School Fund (PSF).
The three-member School Land Board, of which Bush is the chairman, decided to release $55 million to the education board, still far less than the $490 million the land board had given the education board in 2018–19.
“It’s a drop in the bucket,” said State Board of Education member David Bradley, R-Beaumont, who accused Bush of trying to score political points for his role in education funding while campaigning for re-election.
The main impact of Bush’s insistence on transferring money directly to the ASF would be on money dedicated for instructional materials for property-poor districts.
In the past, the money the land board gave to the education board went into the Permanent School Fund, which at $41 billion is the largest education endowment in the country. The education board then pulls money from the Permanent School Fund into another fund called the Available School Fund.
Under state law, half of the money pulled into the Available School Fund by the education board goes to help districts pay for textbooks, technology and other instructional material. The other half is distributed to school districts through general education funding, mostly to help the state pay down its share of payments to property-poor school districts.
Bush has countered SBOE criticism by saying his plan gives the Legislature more flexibility on where to spend the money, instead of tying some of it up for instructional materials.
If all this sounds confusing, and it is, what’s baffling to me is why Bush didn’t meet with the State Board of Education to outline his plan, before ruffling the board members’ feathers?
A fond memory of the #blowthewhistle movement sparked by Empower Texans’ attempt to intimidate teachers
R.G. Ratcliffe pens a comprehensive piece for Texas Monthly tracing the roots, accomplishments, and failures of Tim Dunn — the billionaire who funds ultra-conservative political organizations in Texas, like Empower Texans, that have played a significant role at times in what happens at the state Legislature.
The article recalls an incident in which Empower Texans tried to intimidate teachers and school officials who were advocating a “culture of voting” and supporting public education.
….asking teachers to “blow the whistle” on fellow educators who might spend district money getting people to the polls to vote. Empower Texans’ likely motivation was clear: though the organizations that promoted the voter drive were nonpartisan, the drive was fueled by teachers’ groups that were angry about the Legislature’s failure to pass school finance reform and its attempt to create private school vouchers, for which many blamed Patrick and the Empower Texans crowd.
Educators across the state responded to the mysterious letters by taking to Twitter to castigate Empower Texans and celebrate teachers who’d gone above and beyond for their students. One tweet read, “I just want to #blowthewhistle on all my support staff in my classroom that come in early, stay late and spend their own money helping me make sure our students have everything they need.” Another called out a specific teacher by name, “This amazing teacher pours out her heart everyday into making learning fun!” Some pulled at heartstrings: “@EmpowerTexans I’ve got to #blowthewhistle on a teaching staff that has provided Christmas gifts for a student’s family who was in hard times, helped pay for a student’s medical bills, and buy shoes/clothing for students who needed it.” The tweet-shaming of Empower Texans went on for days.
The article is a must read over the holiday break for anyone who wants to understand the dynamics of state politics — and the religious foundations at the heart of Tim Dunn — and how they affect public education policy.
Eva Marie-Ayala with the Dallas Morning News also gives a great summary of how Dunn’s efforts have largely failed and focuses on the election losses suffered by candidates backed and bankrolled by Empower Texans.
[Empower Texans] is often critical of school bond elections and efforts to pass tax ratification elections, saying districts need to be more fiscally conservative. And it has supported candidates who are advocates of voucher-like efforts that would funnel taxpayer money away from public education for families to use toward private schools.
….The vast majority of dollars and in-kind support invested by Empower Texans — about $3 million — went to unsuccessful bids. The most notable casualties included Dallas-area GOP legislators Konni Burton, Don Huffines and Matt Rinaldi.
All told, only about $1 million was spent on successful candidates, according to campaign finance reports filed so far this year….Empower Texans backed 42 candidates this year, with 14 winning office.
