AUSTIN – SB 4, the Texas school voucher bill that would divert money from public to private schools, passed the Senate floor today. State Sen. José Rodríguez voted against the bill, after his amendment to require that private schools receiving public funds are held to the same standards as public schools was not accepted.
His statement is as follows:
There is no clear evidence showing that voucher students perform better than do public school students. In fact, evidence suggests precisely the opposite. For example, in Louisiana, fewer than half – 44 percent – of voucher students who took the statewide tests passed those exams in 2014. In comparison, 69 percent of public school students statewide passed the exams.
Voucher schools are not held to the same standards as public schools, and without state accountability standards fly-by-night private schools could start popping up simply to get access to public dollars. Without clear accountability that tracks public school standards, parents might not know the school isn't meeting their expectations. My amendment would have allowed vouchers with transparency, but unfortunately it was not accepted, and for that reason I voted against SB 4.