With school vouchers on the horizon in Texas, Houston-area families offer varying opinions

From Houston Public Media:

Editor’s note: This is the second of two stories about school vouchers and the election. Read the first one here.

Keith Hankins does not want to see a school voucher program implemented in Texas.

The resident of Brenham, about 75 miles northwest of Houston, said diverting taxpayer money away from public schools would be harmful to districts like Brenham ISD, which he said are “very important to society.” He also said the voucher program proposed last year by Texas lawmakers, which would have given families more than $10,000 per student to spend on a variety of educational expenses, would not be enough to cover private school tuition in many cases.

Hankins had a chance to voice that opinion with his vote in Texas House District 12, where anti-voucher Democrat Dee Howard Mullins is facing Republican Trey Wharton, who was backed by Gov. Greg Abbott in the March primary as part of a quest to send more voucher-friendly lawmakers to Austin. But before he walked into the Washington County Courthouse Annex to cast his ballot last week, Hankins said he planned to vote for Wharton because he’s generally conservative politically and more in line with him overall.

“That’s only one issue of many,” Hankins said. “And when you weigh the balances, you’ve got to vote with what you’re in agreement with the most. While I disagree with school vouchers, I’m not going to vote just solely on that one issue.”

Dozens of early voters in Houston, Brenham and Pearland – where another state House seat is up for grabs after anti-voucher Republican Rep. Ed Thompson decided not to run again, just like Rep. Kyle Kacal in District 12 – said the voucher issue wasn’t having much of an impact on how they voted. But the results of the Nov. 5 election could have an impact on whether lawmakers pass a voucher bill during the next legislative session early next year, or on what type of program would be enacted.

After 21 Republicans in the House, largely from rural areas with few private schools, sided with Democrats to block a voucher proposal last year, Abbott went after those dissenting Republicans by backing a series of pro-voucher challengers. Fifteen of them either lost their primaries or did not seek re-election.

Few of those House districts are in play for anti-voucher Democrats, largely because they are solidly Republican, according to Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.

“We’ll see vouchers pass in some form,” he said. “It may not be a comprehensive form. It may not be that they devote tens of millions of dollars to it. But there will be some kind of voucher program that the state of Texas will try.”

» RELATED: School voucher issue could impact elections in Houston area, across Texas

A total of 33 U.S. states offer voucher-like programs. Most give priority to low-income students in struggling public schools or students with disabilities or special needs. Some programs, like the one in Arizona, are available to all students with no limit on how many can take advantage.

Many of the voters and residents interviewed by Houston Public Media were not well-versed in the issue. A majority said they are open to a program that helps families with limited resources receive better educational opportunities, but not an initiative that gives money to families that already can afford private school.

“If it’s someone that has the means, I don’t think it’s fair or right,” said Houston resident Veronica Zarate, whose son attends a public charter school. “But if it’s people that are low income that can get a better education, I feel that it’s a good thing.”

Two organizations that advocate for private schools in the Houston area and across the state echoed that sentiment. Laura Colangelo of the Texas Private Schools Association, which represents nearly 950 parochial and secular schools serving more than 300,000 students, and Jennifer Allmon of the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, which advocates for more than 230 Catholic schools serving 61,000-plus students, said they support the education savings accounts that state lawmakers proposed last year.

Allmon and Colangelo both said such a program would boost enrollment and help more families access private school education.

“It must prioritize the poor,” Allmon said. “We’re not interested in supporting a bill that is designed to enable wealthy people to get a discount. That’s not the fundamental teaching of the church.”

But Superintendent Scott Sheppard of Huntsville ISD, which is part of House District 12, says it’s a misconception that vouchers could mean upward mobility for low-income families. While some private schools in the Houston area charge less than $10,000 annually for tuition, others cost up to two or three times that amount.

» RELATED: Here’s everything you need to know about school vouchers in Texas

Sheppard also said Texas private schools are not held to the same state accountability standards as their public counterparts. And they can be selective in who they admit.

“On its surface, it may sound like a great idea,” Sheppard said. “But the reality is, it would not necessarily open up better educational avenues for all kids as some people may believe.”

Sheppard and two other superintendents in the Houston region, Anthony Mays of Alief ISD and Larry Berger of Pearland ISD, said they are concerned a voucher program would further limit the resources allocated to public schools in Texas. State lawmakers have not increased the per-student allotment for public schools, $6,160, since 2019.

The stagnant state funding, coupled with inflation, has those districts and many others facing budget crunches. Sheppard said Abbott has “held funding hostage.”

“He has publicly stated throughout the last session, he would not increase funding for public schools unless the legislature passed vouchers,” Sheppard said. “He said he does not intend to adequately fund public schools unless he gets his way. If he prevails in the election cycle, it won’t be a very fair fight.”

» RELATED: Texas lawmakers kick off new season of heated debate over school vouchers

Some local families who would stand to benefit from a voucher program said they are not interested. Pearland resident Stefanie Ford homeschools her son but said she would not take voucher money to cover her expenses, saying it’s “super important” for those funds to stay in public schools.

Viula Torgerson, whose sons attend a private Montessori school in Houston, echoed that sentiment.

“We all benefit from a well-educated population no matter which route you take,” she said. “My tax dollars belong in public schools, not in private schools – and certainly not in parochial schools.”

But there also are public-school parents in favor of a voucher program, such as Pearland resident Jason McClure and Brenham resident Thiess Cunningham.

“I should be able to take my tax dollars and my kid wherever I want,” McClure said.

Ashley Tolliver is a Humble ISD graduate whose 3-year-old son attends a private Catholic school in Houston’s predominantly Black Third Ward neighborhood. She said she spends nearly $800 per month on tuition and would “absolutely” want help covering that cost.

Her son has been in private school since August.

“You can see the difference, the yes ma’ams, the no ma’ams, how smart he is and the things he picks up on,” Tolliver said. “The things that he says compared to, like, someone that I do know, her child doesn’t know as much as he does, and they’re the same age.”

Berger and Sheppard spoke in favor of their public school systems, which they say have a wider range of educational and extracurricular offerings than most private schools. They would not necessarily see enrollment declines if a voucher program were to pass, they said, but they worry about a potential drop in state funding.

Regardless of the election results, and who goes to Austin when the next legislative session convenes in January, Berger said he hopes elected officials will consider a wide range of Texas students along with their educational needs.

“All I ask is that as the legislators do this, they listen to their communities and what their communities want,” Berger said. “Do what’s best for all students, not just those students that may want private education, but also those students that are still in public education.”

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