Last year, the Texas House voted overwhelmingly to bar public funding for any private school voucher scheme. Apparently, Texas Education Agency Commissioner Robert Scott didn’t get the memo.
Recently, TEA adopted a dropout prevention plan that would allow the agency “to fund nonprofit groups as an alternative [to public schools] to educate dropouts.”
Since Commissioner Scott missed, forgot or ignored the Legislature’s will, the Texas State Teachers Association is working to remind him via a court order.
“They couldn’t push vouchers through the Legislature in an aboveboard way,” said TSTA President Rita Haecker. “So they went through the back door to divert public dollars to private school programs, even though lawmakers warned them not to do so.”
It’s really no surprise that Scott is pushing vouchers — his former boss, Governor Rick Perry, has received a boatload of money from voucher sugardaddy James Leininger.
