Date: 5/10/2023
Subject: *Action Alert* SB 8 - Educational Savings Accounts
From: Elisabeth MacNamara
 |  |
You may have heard a lot about Educational Savings Accounts (ESAs) during this legislative session. ESAs are vouchers by another name. Vouchers divert taxpayer dollars from public schools to pay for private school tuition and other vendors. The House version of SB 8, the voucher bill, would provide a yearly payment to students to attend some alternative to public schools, but would not compensate small school systems for the funding lost through lower attendance.
Right now, they are trying to get a rules suspension on the House floor to allow the House Public Education Committee to meet and pass SB 8 to get it to the floor. The bill can only get to the House floor through a rule change and has to be voted out by tomorrow at midnight. Use our Take Action Center to contact your legislators to urge them to stop this from happening!
Key Talking Points:
- Private schools are not accountable to taxpayers; they are not required to report student achievement data to the state.
- Private schools do not have to accept all students; they can discriminate.
- No credible research exists to suggest vouchers (aka Education Savings Accounts) improve academic performance.
- Vouchers drain resources from public schools; other states have shown that voucher costs often grow well above projections.
- Texas already ranks 40th in per-student spending and the rate of inflation since 2019 is 14.5%, per the Comptroller.
Choice already exists within the public school system: Districts have transfer policies, magnet schools, career/tech academies, etc.
Vouchers subsidize tuition for existing private school and homeschooled students, putting a huge new financial burden on the state.
Use our Take Action Center to contact your legislators to urge them to oppose SB 8!
Take Action!
|
The League of Women Voters of Texas is working tirelessly to advocate for all Texans this legislative session. Donate today to support our mission of empowering voters and defending democracy!
Donate Today!
|
League of Women Voters of Texas
1212 Guadalupe St. #107
Austin Texas, 78701
(512)-472-1100
lwvtexas@lwvtexas.org
lwvtexas.org
| |