School Choice Movement advocates in Texas have recently proposed an education savings account or ESA for students who do not wish to attend public school. The savings account will give parents more freedom of choice regarding their child's education.
They further argued that aside from the freedom of choice, parents can also use the said savings account for other educational purposes, such as home schooling curriculum, tutors, or college credit courses. The more freedom students have in their education, the more opportunities they have further after graduation.
The proposed education savings account or school vouchers were first implemented in 1990 in the Milwaukee Public Schools where parents receive tax money for their child's education. The money which was originally meant to pay for a public school was used to get a private school education.
This proposal was met by strong opposition from public school advocates saying that these educational savings accounts are actually private school vouchers in masquerade. According to the group, these accounts favor private schools more than the students because they get more profit without a strong sense of accountability.
They further argued that a voucher system will just encourage racial, ethnic, social, and religious discrimination. In an argument drafted by the National Education Association or NEA, a strong opponent of the school voucher system, most private schools are religious and vouchers are unconstitutional because they subsidize religious institutions.
"We need to invest in our community schools rather than create a completely separate, parallel system and expand government," argued Charles Luke of the Coalition for Public Schools.
Elgin school district superintendent Jodi Duron supported Luke's argument saying that such system does not really promise more choice but accept students just because they have a school voucher.
The proposal for creating an education savings account for students and other possible school choice legislation will further be discussed by the Senate Committee on Education.
