As school vouchers approach in Texas, Houston-area families express differing opinions – Houston Public Media

Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church elects Tolliver — Ashley Tolliver (right) walks with her son Nasir to Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church to cast her vote in early voting on Tuesday, October 22, 2024.

Editor’s note: This is the second of two stories about school vouchers and the election. Read the first one Here.

Keith Hankins doesn’t want to see a school voucher program implemented in Texas.

The resident of Brenham, about 75 miles northwest of Houston, said diverting tax dollars from public schools would hurt districts like Brenham ISD, which he said are “very important to society.” He also said the voucher program proposed by Texas lawmakers last year, which would have given families more than $10,000 per student for various education expenses, would in many cases not be enough to cover private school tuition.

Hankins had the opportunity to express that opinion with his vote in the Texas House of Representatives, District 12, where anti-voucher Democrat Dee Howard Mullins is running against Republican Trey Wharton, who was defeated by Gov. Greg Abbott in the March primary election A sending effort supported voucher-friendly lawmakers to Austin. But before he entered the Washington County Courthouse Annex to cast his vote last week, Hankins said he planned to vote for Wharton because he is generally conservative politically and tends to agree with him overall.

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“This is just one problem among many,” Hankins said. “And when you weigh the scales, you have to vote with what you agree with most. Even though I don’t agree with school vouchers, I won’t just vote on this one issue.”

Dozens of early voters in Houston, Brenham and Pearland — where another state House seat is up for grabs after anti-voucher Republican Rep. Ed Thompson decided not to run again, as did Rep. Kyle Kacal in District 12 — said , the problem with the vouchers has been solved. This doesn’t have a big impact on how they voted. But the results of the Nov. 5 election could affect whether lawmakers will pass a voucher bill in the next legislative session early next year or what type of program will be implemented.

After 21 Republicans in the House of Representatives, mostly from rural areas with few private schools, sided with Democrats to block a voucher proposal Last year, Abbott pushed back against dissenting Republicans by supporting a number of pro-voucher challengers. Fifteen of them either lost their primaries or did not seek re-election.

According to Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston, few of these House districts are in play for anti-voucher Democrats, largely because they are staunch Republicans.

Early Vote West Gray — Voters go to the polling place at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center in Houston on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.

“We will see vouchers in some form,” he said. “It may not be a comprehensive form. It may not be the case that they’re spending tens of millions of dollars on it. But there will be some type of voucher program that the state of Texas will try.”

A total of 33 US states offer voucher-like programs. Most give priority to low-income students in struggling public schools or students with disabilities or special needs. Some programs, like Arizona’s, are available to all students with no limit on the number of participants.

Many voters and residents interviewed by Houston Public Media were not very familiar with the issue. A majority said they would be open to a program that helps families with limited resources get better educational opportunities, but not an initiative that gives money to families who can already afford private school.

“If it’s someone who has the means, I don’t think it’s fair or right,” said Houston resident Veronica Zarate, whose son attends a public charter school. “But if it’s low-income people who can get a better education, I think that’s a good thing.”

Two organizations that advocate for private schools in the Houston area and across the state shared that sentiment. Laura Colangelo of the Texas Private Schools Association, which represents nearly 950 parochial and secular schools with more than 300,000 students, and Jennifer Allmon of the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, which advocates for more than 230 Catholic schools with more than 61,000 students, said Support the education savings accounts that state lawmakers proposed last year.

Allmon and Colangelo both said such a program would increase enrollment and make it easier for more families to access private school education.

“It has to prioritize the poor,” Allmon said. “We are not interested in supporting a bill that would give wealthy people a discount. That is not the fundamental teaching of the Church.”

But Superintendent Scott Sheppard of Huntsville ISD, which is part of House District 12, says it’s a misconception that vouchers could provide an upward mobility advantage for low-income families. While some private schools in the Houston area charge less than $10,000 per year for tuition, others cost up to two or three times that amount.

Sheppard also said private schools in Texas are not held to the same state accountability standards as their public counterparts. And they can be picky about who they allow.

Voting at the Tom Reid Library — Voters stand in line at the Tom Reid Library in Pearland, Texas, on Tuesday, October 22, 2024.

“On the surface it might sound like a great idea,” Sheppard said. “But the reality is that it wouldn’t necessarily provide better educational opportunities for all children, as some people might think.”

Sheppard and two other Houston-area school leaders, Anthony Mays of Alief ISD and Larry Berger of Pearland ISD, said they were concerned that a voucher program would further limit resources allocated to Texas public schools. The state legislature has not increased the per-pupil grant for public schools, $6,160, since 2019.

Stagnant state funding coupled with inflation leaves these districts and many others facing budget shortfalls. Sheppard said Abbott had “held funding hostage.”

“He publicly stated during the last session that he would not increase funding for public schools unless the Legislature passed vouchers,” Sheppard said. “He said he had no intention of adequately funding public schools unless he got his way. If he prevails in the election cycle, it won’t be a very fair fight.”

Some local families who would benefit from a voucher program said they were not interested. Pearland resident Stefanie Ford homeschools her son but said she wouldn’t accept voucher money to cover her expenses, saying it’s “super important” that those funds stay in public schools.

Viula Torgerson, whose sons attend a private Montessori school in Houston, echoed that sentiment.

“We all benefit from an educated population, no matter what path you take,” she said. “My tax dollars belong in public schools, not in private schools – and certainly not in parochial schools.”

Voting at the Washington County Courthouse — Campaign signs are stuck in the grass in front of the Washington County Courthouse in Brenham, Texas, on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.

But there are also public school parents who support a voucher program, like Jason McClure of Pearland and Thiess Cunningham of Brenham.

“I should be able to take my tax dollars and my child wherever I want,” McClure said.

Ashley Tolliver is a humble ISD graduate whose three-year-old son attends a private Catholic school in Houston’s predominantly black Third Ward neighborhood. She said she spends nearly $800 a month on tuition and would “absolutely” need help covering those costs.

Her son has been attending private school since August.

“You can see the difference, the yes ma’ams, the no ma’ams, how smart he is and the things he picks up,” Tolliver said. “The things he says, compared to someone I know, their kid doesn’t know as much as he does, and they’re the same age.”

Berger and Sheppard spoke in favor of their public school systems, which they said have broader educational and extracurricular offerings than most private schools. They said they wouldn’t necessarily see a drop in enrollment if a voucher program were adopted, but they fear a possible drop in state funding.

Regardless of the election results and who travels to Austin during the next legislative session in January, Berger hopes elected officials will consider a broad range of Texas students and their educational needs.

“All I ask is that when legislators do this, they listen to their communities and their wishes,” Berger said. “Do the best for all students, not just the students who want a private education, but also the students who are still pursuing a public education.”