January 30, 2017

Today, Sen. Larry Taylor filed Senate Bill 3, aimed at using taxpayer dollars for an expensive private and home school voucher program that involves corporate tax credits and Education Savings Accounts (ESAs). Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has called a press conference in which he is expected to announce his support for the voucher bill, which is among his top three priorities this session. The Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE) staunchly opposes Senate Bill 3, which would funnel public funds to schools that aren’t held accountable in the same manner as public schools for how they perform.

“Whether you want to call it an ESA or a voucher, it does the same thing. It takes money away from an already cash-strapped public education system and hands it over to private or home schools that have no academic or financial accountability to the Texas taxpayer,” ATPE Executive Director Gary Godsey said. “Public schools have the responsibility of providing every child with a quality education, no matter what their background or financial status might be. We refuse to abandon our neighborhood public schools for a voucher experiment.”

“Parents need to know that ESAs and vouchers often won’t cover the cost of private school,” Godsey added. “Instead of wasting tax dollars on privatization, our money would be better spent investing in public education. Despite this bill’s empty promises of future ‘net savings,’ we know that voucher money that follows a child doesn’t reduce the cost of operating our public school system; it only adds to taxpayers’ burdens by creating a new entitlement program likely to cost the state billions of dollars for years to come.”

###

The Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE) has been a strong voice for Texas educators since 1980. It is the leading educators’ association in Texas with more than 100,000 members statewide. With its strong collaborative philosophy, ATPE speaks for classroom teachers, administrators, future, retired and para-educators and works to create better opportunities for 5 million public schoolchildren. ATPE is the ally and the voice of Texas public education.