August 20, 2015 4:41 PM

Pastors of some of the largest congregations in Texas weigh in on school finance

It puts elected officials in the odd position of defending the current school finance system against members of one of its strongest base of support.

Pastors of some of the largest congregations in the state have urged the Texas Supreme Court to add private school vouchers to the mix to address inefficiency in the state’s school finance system.

Texas leadership of the U.S. Council of Pastors includes Ed Young of Second Baptist in Houston and Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church in Dallas, among others. Membership in both congregations exceeds 10,000, and each congregation supports its own affiliated private school.

That puts the elected officials of the state in the odd position of defending the current school finance system against members of its strongest base of support. Most of the elected officials are on record supporting vouchers and tax credits that could send students out of public schools into private and parochial schools.

By Kimberly Reeves