Category Archives for vouchers

Pro-Public Ed Pastor Group Files Texas Court Brief Rejecting Tax-Funded Vouchers for Religious Schools

Pastors for Texas Children, a pro-public education group, is warning that the creation of a “parallel private system of education” funded with tax dollars — through vouchers or other schemes — would violate the Texas Constitution and harm the religious schools proponents of such a system want to fund. That warning came in a brief the group filed on Tuesday […]

Also posted in TFNEF | 2 Comments

Redefining ‘Religious Liberty’ into Nothing?

Religious-righters are twisting and redefining “religious liberty” so much that the term itself is in danger of becoming almost meaningless. Fortunately, a growing number of mainstream religious leaders from around the state are calling out the nonsense. The latest battleground: public subsidies (such as vouchers) for religious schools. The rabidly anti-gay, religious-right group Houston Area Pastor Council, which also goes by […]

Also posted in Dave Welch, education, Houston Area Pastor Council, religious freedom, Texas Pastor Council, TFNEF | 4 Comments

Texas Senate Mugs Public Schools, Gives Preliminary Approval to Private School Vouchers

Today the Texas Senate mugged the state’s public schools and their millions of students by providing preliminary approval to a reckless private school voucher bill. But the debate revealed some dirty truths that voucher supporters would prefer folks not know about the bill. Senators gave approval to Senate Bill 4 on second reading. SB 4 would give tax credits to wealthy interests that provide […]

Also posted in 2015 Texas Legislature, TFN | 8 Comments

Tax-Credit Vouchers: An Attack on Public Education in Texas

As the Texas Senate prepares to take up a tax-credit voucher scam — as early as Tuesday — check out this video from the Southern Education Foundation. The Foundation’s three-minute video explains how direct vouchers and tax-credit vouchers undermine public education as tax dollars are siphoned off to private and religious schools.

Also posted in 2015 Texas Legislature, TFN | 1 Comment

This Week @ the Texas Legislature: Vouchers on Senate Floor

Call your senator TODAY in opposition to this reckless raid on funding for neighborhood public schools. Click here to find the name and phone number for your senator. Big moves behind the scenes tell us the Senate could take up a massive private school voucher bill this week. It’s critical that you call your senator […]

Also posted in 2015 Texas Legislature, education, TFN | 9 Comments

Checking Our Hate Mail: TFN Is ‘Stupid’ and Public Schools Are ‘Evil’

Our opposition to private school voucher schemes apparently angers “Linda,” who wrote us earlier today. We won’t publish her full name or email address — we’re polite that way. But here’s her email to us: You either have no kids in the Texas public school system or you are just stupid or a lib which is one […]

Also posted in 2015 Texas Legislature, TFN | 13 Comments

TFN Press Release: Senate Voucher Bills Hide Massive Cost to Public Schools and Texas Students

As the Senate Education Committee hears testimony on three reckless private school voucher bills, we just sent out the following press release: Texas Freedom Network President Kathy Miller today called proposed bills under consideration in the Senate Education Committee today reckless and even cynical schemes to shift funding from neighborhood public schools to private and […]

Also posted in 2015 Texas Legislature, TFN | 4 Comments

Voucher Lobby Launches Full Frontal Assault on Texas Public Schools

Powerful interests pushing private school voucher schemes in Texas are launching today what might be their strongest attack on neighborhood public schools in years. The Senate Education Committee is hearing public testimony on three proposed voucher bills — each one of which could end up draining billions of dollars from public education to subsidize tuition at private and religious schools. […]

Also posted in 2015 Texas Legislature, TFN | 4 Comments

Texas Voucher Scam Would Shift Hundreds of Millions in Tax Dollars from Public to Private Schools

On Wednesday anti-public education politicians rallied behind a proposed new voucher scheme to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars each year from neighborhood public schools to private and religious schools in Texas. Those funding transfers would come on top of billions in funding cuts to public schools passed by the Legislature in 2011 — cuts lawmakers still haven’t fully restored. […]

Also posted in 2015 Texas Legislature, TFN | 16 Comments

Ouch! Texas Judge Slams Right-winger for Wasting His Time

It’s always good to see folks in responsible positions refuse to play games with far-right fanatics who substitute ignorant, facts-free ideology for honest research and expertise. So we enjoyed reading a particular section of state District Judge John Dietz’s opinion on Thursday that the public school finance system in Texas violates the state Constitution. The case is almost certainly […]

Also posted in climate change, Heartland Institute, Joseph Bast, public education, TFNEF | 8 Comments