The Observer looks at the voucher industry of middleman companies that are behind the Lege's claim in defense of vouchers that "parents never directly touch this money," not a direct quote, but a summary of repeated statements by state Sen. Brandon Creighton. It notes that vulture capitalists like Andreessen Horowitz are behind this. It also looks at a growing conservative parent backlash — a backlash that most the wingnuts in the Lege, especially on the Senate side, will conveniently ignore.
“This is a vendor bill,” said Hollie Plemons, an education activist and GOP precinct chair in Tarrant County, in her testimony before the Senate education committee in January. Plemmons called it a “subsidy” for businesses and criticized Creighton, saying, “You are going to be taking our tax dollars … for each one of these [CEAO] businesses.”
Amy Fennell, a former city council member of Willow Park in North Texas and a Republican, told the Observer: “It’s an industry that would not exist without a government subsidy.”
There we are.
The Observer also reports on the massive public hearing last week on the House-side's voucher bill. It too drew anti-voucher conservative critics:
“I’m coming to you as a Texas retired teacher and as a conservative from Harris County. I’m a Republican precinct lead, and I wanted to remind you to please represent your Texas constituents. … My input for you today is to kill this bill,” Mary Ann Jackson said. Mary Lowe, who testified as a member of the conservative public education group Families Engaged, said the debate around vouchers was “ripping the party apart.” She added, “This bill has an open-ended check for the taxpayer.”
Will they have any effect on the House side? Perhaps at the margins when House and Senate bills head to conference.
Related? The Texas Signal notes some bad polling for school vouchers.
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