February 19, 2025      4:48 PM

Amid ongoing voucher campaign a new effort emerges pushing back on charter schools

A new effort aimed at "supporting Texas public schools and making charter schools more transparent and accountable to the public" was launched this week by a group called Our Schools Our Democracy. And it has bipartisan support.

“Unchecked charter school expansion poses as much of a threat to Texas public education as private school vouchers because multi-billion-dollar decisions are being made with little input from parents or taxpayers. Meanwhile, our already underfunded public schools are further starved of state dollars, and our kids pay the price,” said the group's Chair.

“Charter schools are out of control," said Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg "While public schools in our state face an existential funding crisis, charter schools are playing with Texas taxpayer dollars like Monopoly money, voting to lease a private jet for over $15M and leasing a luxury box at a sports arena in San Antonio." Meantime, Republican former SBOE member Pat Hardy of Fort Worth said "Parents and the public should have input into any proposal to locate a new charter campus in their community through a charter expansion amendment."

The group also released a report on charters that you can check out right here.

Copyright February 19, 2025, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved