The Senate Committee on Education met to take up SB 3 (Taylor) school voucher legislation. The committee substitute was laid and left pending after just over 9 hours of testimony and discussion.
Senator Larry Taylor laid out his legislation
- ESA allows for personalization of education
- Will be administered by Comptroller with many safeguards
- Eligible expenses include tuition and fees at private school, private tutoring, therapies, etc
- 200% of more of free and reduced = 60% of avg. M&O
- At or below of free and reduced lunch = 70% of avg. M&O
- Disability = 90% of avg. M&O
- District where child would have resided they will get half of funding
- Comptroller will certify an educational organization
- Committee substitute laid out
- Clarifying and technical
- adds clarifying language in regards to eligible tutors
- protections against fraud – change language to allow for purchase of computer equipment for medical purpose and eliminate debit ability
- Students receive ESA will be counted in districts to help address recapture issue
- Make age and attendance eligibility same as ESA
- Taylor asked for members to hold questions, opening remarks – called up first panel
- Taylor moves testimony limited to 2 minutes
Highlight on the first part of the morning’s testimony (Approx 125 Witnesses signed up to testify)
Adam Peshek, Educator Choice for the Foundation in Excellence in Education
- Implementation of program – believes it would like Florida or Nevada and reviews that structure
- Effect on public schools – not a binary choice, can support both and have seen both private and public schools benefit (ex Florida)
Scott Jensen, American Federation for Children
- More than half of the country benefits from choice programs
- No state legislature has ever repealed private choice legislation
- Embraced by leaders in both parties
- Every Republican Governor in country supports school choice and now many Democrat leaders support
- Taylor asked about the Milwaukee program
- 28k attending private through voucher, robust options for parents
- Public schools have upped their game in response to competition
- However, some schools just chose to put politics in it and work on protectionism
- Lucio – appreciates the sentiment of taking the politics out of it
Lindsey Burke, Heritage Foundation
- Choice provides a superior form of accountability
- Parents in Arizona independently started and ESA message board
- Parents have more useful information in choice environment, parent driven accountability has been demonstrated to improve outcomes
Matthew Ladner, Charles Koch Institute
- Texas educates more than the 20 smallest states combined
- Cannot keep adding these students and not create significant financial constraints
Donna Corbin, Texas Classroom Teachers Association
- Opposed to tax vouchers, ESA’s and the like
- Prefer to offer choice in currently available public education opportunities
- Could cause financial drain, lack of accountability, etc
- Potential for misuse of funds
- Bill may bring constitutional legal challenge
- Indiana Program should significant loss in some subjects, provides other examples
Corey D’Angelo, Doctoral Student at University of Arkansas studying school choice
- Research showing higher achievement, less crime, benefits to these programs including less cost to taxpayer
- Provided details on benefits they would see in Texas based on their model with this program
- Taylor – what are highly regulated regulations?
- Louisiana– prohibition of parental co-payments, by trying to control quality through regulation the program decreased the amount of options available to parents & state takes control of admission requirements
- West – comparative analysis on accountability between private or public, accountability from state? Is there parity in accountability?
- Have not done such an analysis – two types of accountability one from state and one from parents
- Gave example of test scores accountability has uncertainty, but when open it up to parents you get a standard for each student
- West – asked about Louisiana accountability regulatory provision vs what is being proposed in this bill
- Parent co-payment allowed, open admission standards
- West – have you looked at avg. cost of private education in test, have you looked at Fiscal Note on the bill?
- No
- West – FN for 2018 is $5m in GR and $12 in FSP, isn’t that significant
- Does it consider savings of students being taught that are not being taught into public schools?
- West – pointed out the FN and asked him to review, do you know what the Foundation School Program?
- Can you explain it?
- Have not read up on it yet
Jonathan Butcher, Goldwater Research Institute
- Parents are empowered with ESAs and courts have opined on these programs
- Arizona auditor said less than 1% of accounts were misused due to fraud
Jorge Lima, LIBRE Initiative and part of Americans For Prosperity
- Allow parents to be in driver seat of customization of education
- Latino community can benefit strongly and no wonder they support
- 70% Latinos support voucher and many support ESA’s
- Lucio – appreciates their mission, what are you doing to make sure more parents are showing up, key is for parents to be engaged
- We make sure meeting parents where they are at, work on educating parents on how their involvement impacts – host events on current options in district and introducing them to processes in school districts
Inez Feltcher, American Legislative Exchange Counsel
- Texas last state in south to offer school choice
- 5 other states are looking at starting/expanding ESA program
Janna Lilly, TCASE
- Oppose SB 3 reading testimony from mother who could not be there
- Does not believe the bill is good for kids with disabilities
- Lucio – accountability measures in public schools not required in private schools
- Due process for parents (IEP)
- Taylor – do you not want kids in urban areas to have opportunities, this gives bottom up accountability
- We don’t want parents to leave when not happy, want them to work through it
- Taylor – maybe competition would help, when they leave could find out why
- So much effort dedicated toward telling public schools and asking for accountability
- Taylor- trying to free up and offer flexibilities to schools
- VanTaylor – asked for more details on vouchers, why do use the word voucher
- Voucher is broad word for public funds going to private organizations
- VanTaylor – would say there is something immoral about ESA/voucher
- State is charged with general diffusion of knowledge
- VanTaylor – do you want more funding in state per child
- Absolutely
- But the money issue is not the overwhelming issue – in good consciousness cannot support students with needs going to school that are not equipped to handle
Testimony continued with approximately 125 witnesses signed up to testify.