Yea or nay?

There's a great deal of online chatter about the passage of Senate Bill 2, providing "school choice." 

Texans from north to south, and east to west have all chimed in with their concerns. But what does it mean for Central Texas' rural school districts? Financially, what will this mean for smaller public schools already struggling with reduced funding from the state? 

We've seen comments on social media both in favor and against the proposed vouchers but by-in-large, most of the comments from McCulloch County residents have been not in favor of the bill. 

Wes Virdell, member-elect for the 53rd district of the Texas House of Representatives gave his stance on social media this morning, and constituents from across his district were quick to sound out with opinions. 

If you're one of the many who would like to reach out to your representative for your opinion and encouragement for a vote (either for or against), Virdell's capital phone number is 512-463-0536, ext. E2.304.

 The Brady Standard-Herald would like to hear from you on the subject as well. Submit your letters to the editor to: newseditor@bradystandard.com and let us know what you think of Senate Bill 2. Are you in favor? Would you vote no?

With approval from Virdell, we're sharing his original post as well as a letter we received today from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick concerning the topic.

 

In order to address the concerns expressed about ESAs, I am writing this so folks can know exactly where I stand.

I believe there are a lot of great teachers and other folks within public education, and I believe the good and great ones really do it out of love for others.

My concern is that 1/3rd of the entire Texas budget goes to public education ($93 billion) and it keeps being repeated that schools need more money. I believe it is more likely that funds have been misallocated to heavy admin pay and extracurricular activities. The funds should be spent on teacher pay, clean and safe buildings, and the basic curriculum like reading, writing, mathematics, history, civics, science, and vocation. 

I am currently working on a constitutional amendment to correct where taxpayer money can be spent in public education.

A lot of parents like myself have grown worried about the trajectory schools are headed.

We had one of our kids in public education at the beginning of covid and the Superintendent couldn't promise us that our kid would not be forced to wear a mask.

Shortly after we expressed our concerns, the schools mandated masks and there was no way we were going to subject our kid to that level of tyranny. Unfortunately, almost no one in public education stood up to the abuse of power and we decided our kids would no longer use public education. Leaders are supposed to stand up, not bow down.

A lot of parents felt the same way as we did and they pulled their kids out of public education.

I truly believe if the schools had stood up against the unconstitutional mandates and poor decisions by our government, the ESA discussion wouldn't even exist right now. I also believe if we didn't have male teachers dressing up as females and terribly inappropriate books in our libraries, we wouldn't be discussing ESAs.

A lot of blame also goes to legislators of that time because they turned a blind eye to the abuse of power and they didn't stand up for us as citizens. I vowed to run against any person I could that did not stand up against the covid mandates. Their lack of courage led to unconstitutional mandates, school closures, business failures, and generations of people being told to bow down to unconstitutional authority. Mental health issues skyrocketed while many leaders turned their backs on us. The damage done by teaching our kids that it is okay to bow down to corrupt authority will cause us problems for generations in this country.

I won my race and I want to do whatever is in my ability to stop that from ever happening again in a country that loves to express how free we are.

I did campaign on expanding school choice and had several endorsements from folks like Ted Cruz and Donald Trump because of it. It is important that I keep my word. Polling so far has shown 2/3rds support in rural districts and 80% of the Republican primary voters said they support it on the ballot. Trump has publicly supported expanding school choice and he won in Texas by a good margin.

I have made it clear to the folks writing the ESA bills that I will vote no if they put a bad bill in front of me and there are legitimate concerns that are being discussed as it comes to the House.

The question we all need to be asking is what is best for the kids.

I also believe that schools who create an environment that parents want their kids to be in will not lose students.

I truly understand the concerns expressed against the ESAs, but I also understand that what we have isn't working and there is plenty of blame to go around. I believe we need real reform and we need those of us elected to stand up for that reform and against the tyranny that occurred during covid.

Thank you,
State Representative 
Wes Virdell, HD53

“From the first day I arrived in the Texas Senate, my goal and passion has been to improve public education in Texas and provide great education options for all students. As senator, I served as chair of the Senate Committee on Education and led the effort to reform high school diplomas, reduce STAAR tests from 15 to 5, reform charter schools, and fully fund public education.  

“In addition to supporting a robust public education system, which should be the finest in the country, I support SB 2 because I strongly believe that parents deserve choice in their child’s education. SB 2 is a universal school choice bill, with a strong focus on special needs students and students in failing schools.

“The Texas Senate’s passage of SB 2 is the biggest launch of any universal school choice program in American history, with $1 billion in funding for 100,000 students. Sen. Creighton has done an outstanding job authoring and carrying this bill. 

“This is the sixth time the Texas Senate has passed school choice, with every previous bill dying in the Texas House. The Senate will pass school choice over and over again until the House passes this bill. The days of limiting millions of Texas students to a one-size-fits-all approach are over.”

 SB 2, by Sen. Brandon Creighton, establishes an education savings account (ESA) program that gives parents a broader choice to direct their child’s school funding. The program will be administered by the comptroller and its capacity is 100,000 students. Eligibility is universal, with 80% of funds going to families with special needs children or those earning under $161,000 per year.