As you know, Pastors for Texas Children has played a key role in alerting our communities and congregations to the destructive effects of private school vouchers. Unfortunately, due to the threatening intervention by President Donald J. Trump, the Texas House of Representatives passed a voucher proposal during the 89th legislative session last April. So, the fight for public education goes to the voters of Texas this November as we work to make the private school voucher issue the deciding factor in elections throughout the state.  Dr. Bruce Baker is a professor at the University of Miami and a leading national expert on public school funding. Thanks to our friend  Dr. Diane Ravitch, we came across his delightful parody of vouchers and want to share it with you. Read it out loud-- you might draw a crowd to hear it! view article

The state’s debut Texas Education Freedom Account program, which set aside $1 billion to give families public funds for private school tuition and education services, capped at roughly 96,000 students this week.  Of those, 8,676 students are in the San Antonio area across 16 school districts. More than twice as many, 21,483, students originally applied for the funds.  “This first year is groundbreaking for Texas,” said Kelly Hancock, acting Texas comptroller of public accounts. His office is overseeing the voucher-like program. view article

More than 42,000 students have received the first round of awards under the state's new voucher program.  In a Thursday news release, Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock said more than 42,600 students will receive notices this week under the Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) program, including all students in the program's top priority tier. That includes students with qualifying disabilities in households at or below 500 percent of the federal poverty level, as well as their siblings.  "The Legislature made low- and middle-income students with disabilities the first priority for the first year of school choice here in Texas, and that is exactly where this process starts," Hancock said. "These awards put tens of thousands of Texas families one step closer to the educational path that works best for their children." view article

Texas Leadership Charter Academy in San Angelo 5 coaches coerced 80 students to do 45 minutes of sit-ups and berated them for trying to quit. Over multiple days. Twenty children were reportedly hospitalized between Feb. 27 and March 2. Many were diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, a serious, potentially life-threatening syndrome resulting from rapid skeletal muscle breakdown. view article

The lawsuit, which describes the case as “about adults who tortured children,” stems from an incident that the filing says began in late February during an athletics class. view article

Houston-area school districts with more charter schools in their boundaries are seeing fewer students enroll in their schools, according to a new Rice University study.The report, which analyzed enrollment and birth rates across the Houston metropolitan area, found that districts are seeing fewer kindergarten students, especially in areas that have an abundance of other, non-traditional education options. This comes as local districts grapple with declining student enrollment. view article