Texas lawmakers approve $1B private school voucher plan

By JIM VERTUNO and NADIA LATHAN AUSTIN Texas AP Texas lawmakers on Thursday passed a billion mentoring bill that allows families to use populace money to pay for private school tuition a major mastery for school voucher proponents nationwide that was cheered on by President Donald Trump Related Articles Judge blocks Trump push to cut funding to community schools over diversity programs A new Minnesota cover crop could help make air trip greener UMN St Paul researchers say International students stripped of legal status in the US are piling up wins in court Concordia University graduates win first round in DHS lawsuit Federal coaching cuts and Trump DEI demands leave states teachers in limbo The measure won final approval from the state Senate and now heads to Republican Gov Greg Abbott who had muscled the GOP-majority Legislature to pass the bill and has vowed to speedily sign it into law More than states have implemented chosen sort of voucher initiative in the U S and about a dozen states in modern years have launched or expanded programs that make the majority students eligible Texas version will be among the largest in the nation and is seen as a major supremacy for proponents who hope to push a similar effort on the federal level School choice has come to Texas disclosed Lt Gov Dan Patrick a Republican who controls the Senate who has pushed for a voucher activity for nearly years For decades the push in Texas had failed in the face of stiff resistance from Democrats and rural Republicans who called it a threat to general schools in a state that now has more than million students in community classrooms But supporters gradually gained ground and Abbott a three-term governor threw his political muscle behind it in the elections by backing numerous candidates who would promotion it That effort built the majority advocacy the issue needed after decades of failure Trump played a key role in getting the measure through a critical state House vote a week ago when he spoke with a group of Republican lawmakers on a speakerphone call and urged them to approve it The campaign in its first year would be capped at billion and used by up to students but it could grow to nearly billion per year by The money can be used for private school tuition or costs for home-schooling and virtual learning programs Families could get up to each year per novice under the activity and a learner with disabilities would be eligible for as much as per year Supporters of the measure say the vouchers can help parents get their children out of poor-performing constituents schools and create competition that will force masses schools to improve The one thing that is missing from our development process that has really made America great is competition commented Republican state Sen Bob Hall Critics however argue it will weaken inhabitants schools by draining money and support and giving them to private schools who can have selective enrollment and may not operate under a few of the same rules And they argue it will put money in the pocket of wealthier families already sending their children to costly private schools The bill is not about school choice the Senate Democratic caucus mentioned in a report It s about residents subsidization of private schools choice It s a step backwards for Texas The issue is not settled among Republicans nationwide On Monday North Dakota s Republican Gov Kelly Armstrong vetoed a private school voucher operation in that state saying the bill fell far short of truly expanding choice as it only impacts one sector of our trainee population Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press Summary for America Statehouse News Initiative Account for America is a nonprofit national amenity initiative that places journalists in local newsrooms to analysis on undercovered issues