East Texas school districts raise questions in Austin

AUSTIN — With the third special session now in progress, Gov. Greg Abbott intends to make progress on what he calls “education freedom.” The governor has asked Texans to contact their state representative to advocate for school choice, while opponents of the idea claim this is just a rebrand of the school voucher plan. Since the topic of school choice has been brought forth, public school districts across East Texas have had concerns, according to our colleagues at KETK. “I think that would be detrimental to public schools. Changing the name from vouchers to school choice and different things like that, I mean, parents have a choice, students have a choice,” Central ISD Superintendent Justin Risne said.

As the legislature meets for the fourth time this year, public school districts have questions.

“If that money goes elsewhere for education, how do we measure students’ success? How do we get a good overall picture of what’s taking place in the state of Texas?” asked Mineola ISD Superintendent Cody Mize.

Risner explained he wants to know the “why” behind the need for education savings accounts.

“Why do we need, as taxpayers, to fund private entities?” he asked.

Risner also raised concerns about transparency with the funds.

“Accountability and equality– we are funded by taxpayers, and we are held to certain standards that we have to meet,” Risner said.

Risner shared that their accountability systems are public record.

“Whether it be accounting records, financial and or accountability on the A-F system on how we perform and what services we’re providing our students,” Risner said.

The superintendent of Mineola ISD wonders how student success will be recorded if school choice goes through.

“How do you measure student outcomes, so we can truly say, ‘OK, we are getting results from our money by opening this type of program,’” said Mize.

Abbott said his goal is to empower parents to choose the best education option for their child.