End School Voucher Programs
To the Editor:
Fayette County children of every race/color, income, or faith should be free to learn and pursue their dreams in a great public school, regardless of ability, where they live, or what they look like.
Public schools are the lifeblood of our local economy and the bedrock of our society in rural communities like ours. We proudly convene at “Open House” night for our youngest kiddos, attempt to chaperone school dances and celebrate our students who win FFA and 4H scholarships. And we sure wouldn’t have Friday night lights without free, publicly funded schools. That’s just the truth.
But some of our elected officials and private special interests are trying to funnel public dollars into private schools by pushing voucher programs that divide families against each other and worsen the quality of schools where most kids learn and grow.
I’m not sure if y’all have heard, but legislators over in Austin will soon decide whether to defund our public schools and redistribute the funds to unaccountable private schools.
Teachers, support staff, bus drivers, and athletic coaches would lose jobs. It means parents will lose their voice in school board meetings. It means the costs of educating our kids will skyrocket because we have to fund big, fat corporate salaries. Students with special needs will be left behind in school and life.
I don’t know about you, but I believe our students and educators are too important to pull their funding from under them. Our schools are too important to our local economy to try a failed experiment that will put many of our workforce out of work. Write your State Representative and Senator and tell them: don’t Florida our Texas schools and stand against any voucher schemes. They’re bad for our communities and even worse for our kids. Together, we can put an end to this extremist idea.
Contact Ms. Kolkhorst at lois.kolkhorst@senate.texas.
gov or (512) 463-0118.
Contact Mr. Kitzman at stan.kitzman@house.texas. gov or (512) 463-0604.
Together, we can demand an end to giving public resources to private schools. Hence, nothing stands in the way of us providing every child in Texas a quality education in their neighborhood.