Texas House To School Choice: Drop Dead

[Elderberry]

Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog 11/18/2023

If you were wondering if the left-leaning cabal behind Dade Phelan would ever let any form of school choice pass the Texas house, now you know.

    Following a year of anticipation and four special sessions, the hopes of school choice being passed on the floor of the Texas House have been dashed after an amendment stripped education savings accounts (ESAs) from this special session’s education omnibus bill.

    The amendment offered by Rep. John Raney (R-College Station) was initially signed by 16 other members before being passed by a vote of 84 to 63.

    Members then voted to lock that change in and prevent the removal from being reconsidered at a later time, a motion which passed by the same margin as Raney’s amendment.

Of the 85 Republicans in the House, those voting in favor of the ESA removal amendment included: ------

The names of some of those Republicans voting against school choice should be familiar, as they’ve thwarted Republican priorities in the past:

•  Allison, Kacel, King, Kuempel, Lambert, Price and Raney all voted to create a “Office of Health Equity Policy” in the Texas Department of State Health Services.

•  Allison, Bailes, Clardy, Kacel, King, Lambert, Raney and VanDeaver all voted against banning taxpayer-funded lobbying.

•  Geren was Joe Straus’ righthand man for years, and once had an aide file a false child protective services act against his primary opponent, and was one of the main instigators of the vendetta against Ken Paxton.

•  All of them except Clardy, Price and Thompson voted in favor of the Paxton impeachment.

Primarying everyone on that list (and, of course, Phelan) would be a good start.

Following the vote, Governor Greg Abbot declared that “the small minority of pro-union Republicans in the Texas House who voted with the Democrats will not derail the outcome that their voters demand,” but it remains unclear how he can move his school choice agenda after this gutting.

Abbott has said he’ll veto and education bills without ESAs. He’s also threatened to keep holding special sessions until school choice passes. We’ll see if he follows through.

More: https://www.battleswarmblog.com/?p=56446

[Hoodat]

The will of the people?  I think not.   Clearly, $2 trillion in deficit spending each year can buy off a lot of legislators, even at the State level.

[Bigun]

The will of the people?  I think not.   Clearly, $2 trillion in deficit spending each year can buy off a lot of legislators, even at the State level.

Public education is, by far, the biggest racket going on in Texas and a great deal of taxpayer $$$ gets spent on lobbying against "The will of the people"!

[mountaineer]

Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist
@DeAngelisCorey
BREAKING: 18 of the 21 Texas House "Republicans" who voted against school choice were endorsed by the teachers union.
10:13 PM · Nov 18, 2023

[Bigun]

I hear the small rural schools are not for school choice as this would decimate them.

And that is 100% Bovine excrement right from the mouths of teacher's unions!

[Hoodat]

I hear the small rural schools are not for school choice as this would decimate them.

This is about the kids, not the schools.  If a private school can do a better job at education and for less money than what the government schools are doing, then the government schools should be shut down.

[Bigun]

This is about the kids, not the schools.  If a private school can do a better job at education and for less money than what the government schools are doing, then the government schools should be shut down.

NOTHING breeds excellence better than competition!

[GrouchoTex]

I hear the small rural schools are not for school choice as this would decimate them.

In some cases, they  are the largest employer in these areas, and a powerful voting bloc.
Republican house members in these areas risk being primaried if they vote for school choice.
Gov Abbott is going to use some of his campaign war chest to do just that to the Republicans who voted against it.

[Hoodat]

Well, if you want to send your kids to one of our local private schools you'll be coughing up $20,000 a year.  It's a good school mind you and I play tennis with their tennis coach.  A bit pricey.

I've seen a wide range of pricing.  Some above the government payout, and some below.  Keep in mind that school choice come with a check from the government which represents how much money the government would spend if your child were in public school.  In many districts, that amount approaches $20k.