LETTER TO THE EDITOR

12/14/2024 05:00 AM

Time to back school choice

Editor, In the Dec. 1, 2024 edition of the Boerne Star, we read Kendall County Democratic Party Chair Laura Bray’s column arguing against vouchers.

However, the word vouchers has lost its sting. According to a recent poll by the University of Houston and Texas Southern University, most Texans of all demographics support school choice, no matter what you call it.

Ms. Bray also references a small poll in the Fredericksburg Standard to claim that most residents of the very-Republican Gillespie County oppose school choice. But in the Republican primary this year, nearly 80% of Gillespie Republicans voted in support of school choice.

Ms. Bray also echoes Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs’ claim that ESAs are “bankrupting” Arizona. But they are not.

While Arizona’s state budget has a deficit, the education budget from which ESAs are drawn actually has a surplus, contrary to Gov. Hobbs’ claim. ESAs are not bankrupting the state; they’re actually helping the budget out, and other areas of the state budget are causing the deficit.

The truth of the matter is that Texans are ready for a change. Texas public schools are putting less and less money into the classroom, with administrators and other staff ballooning at quadruple the rate of teachers over the past five years.

Parents are demanding transparency, better curriculum and respect from their schools and they’re finding a lack of all of those, so they look to exercise a choice — a choice that many can’t afford, and that ESAs would bring to children here in Boerne and Kendall County as well as across Texas.

It’s not time to reject “school vouchers” again; it’s time for Texas to join the dozens of other states embracing choice and unlock a brighter future for our kids.