Raise Your Hand Texas urges lawmakers to think twice about creating a school-voucher program

With lawmakers again considering the creation of a statewide school-voucher program, “Raise Your Hand Texas” urges them to think twice. Max Rombado is the group’s legislative director… “Vouchers, also known as ‘education-savings accounts’, are a tax-cut for the wealthy—diverting scarce public-education funds to private schools, which aren’t required to report or even track their spending and student-performance. Vouchers reduce equitable access to educational opportunities, weaken rights for students with disabilities, and expose taxpayers to fraud. What’s more, vouchers rarely cover the full cost of private-school tuition—leaving families to pay the difference. Voucher-programs in other states have a long history of expanding well beyond their intended scope—even surpassing the spending-limits that were set by their legislation. On top of that, research shows that vouchers don’t improve student-achievement. That’s why we support keeping education tax-dollars in public schools—and investing in both quality public-school choice and innovative programs.” To learn more, visit “raise-your-hand-texas”-dot-org.