Read an excerpt below:
But school district superintendents, parents, teachers, and public school advocates, conservative and progressive alike, who spoke against the bill, outnumbered those in favor. They expressed concerns that a voucher program would siphon money away from underfunded public schools. According to U.S. News and World Report, Texas ranks 43 nationwide in per-pupil spending.
SB 1 author and the Senate’s education committee chair state Senator Brandon Creighton repeatedly assured, “There will be no detriment to public schools.”
But Jaime Puente, director of economic opportunity at the public advocacy organization Every Texan, explained that when a student leaves a public school, school funding leaves with that student. No matter the number of students left in a classroom, schools still have to pay fixed costs for teachers, equipment, and building maintenance.
Small and mid-sized school district superintendents echoed this concern at the hearing.
Read the full article on The Texas Observer.