THSCSIC considers vouchers

The Texas High School Completion and Success Initiative Council (THSCSIC), created by House Bill (HB) 2237, met Monday and Tuesday of this week to continue its work on its strategic plan. The council is charged with developing a strategic plan and making recommendations to the Legislature to guide high school initiatives.

Controversy surrounded the meetings because of comments made by Commissioner of Education Robert Scott during the council's March 3 meeting. His comments, along with vague wording in the strategic plan regarding "alternative settings" and "nonprofit associations," seemed to indicate support for vouchers. On Monday, many members of the education community, including ATPE and the Coalition for Public Schools, testified against any use of high school initiatives funding for voucher programs. Such a use was clearly not intended by the Legislature, which made its position regarding vouchers clear during the 80th legislative session through a 129-8 vote against the use of public funds for vouchers. Regardless, Scott brought the subject up again during the last few minutes of Tuesday's meeting. His comments indicated that he is still interested in the possibility of creating a voucher program through the Texas Education Agency (TEA).

ATPE previously testified on our priorities for the strategic plan. Our testimony urged the council to embrace multiple curriculum pathways for students to achieve high school completion. We also encouraged the council to pay greater attention to career and technical education options for students. The adopted plan reflected our concerns through its definition of "postsecondary success" as "the range of academic, workforce and social proficiency that high school students should acquire to successfully transition into: skilled employment, advanced training in the military, an associate's degree, a bachelor's degree or technical certification." The council's plan also states that all students should have the opportunity to select from multiple pathways to achieve postsecondary success. The adopted strategic plan should soon be made available on the state initiatives section of the TEA Web site .