State Senator Dan Patrick and Lt. Gov David Dewhurst outlined a variety of proposals they will make to transform K-12 education in the state. The proposals will make it easier for students to go to private schools:
Patrick, a Houston Republican who chairs the Senate Education
Committee, said he would carry legislation that would increase the
options for public school students through lifting the state's cap on
charter schools, fostering open enrollment within and across school
districts, and creating a private school scholarship fund through
offering a state business tax savings credit to corporations. When asked
for further information about how such a scholarship program would
operate, Patrick said the plan was still in its formative stages, and
earlier, Dewhurst indicated that it may begin through a smaller-scale
pilot program.
Patrick also said he would revamp the
accountability system by reducing the number of required state tests and
increasing the pathways to graduation for high school students
interested in technology. A new system would also evaluate school
districts with letter grades instead of the current ratings of
acceptable or unacceptable.
Though the set of reforms the two men
described at the news conference did not contain a plan for what are
often called private school vouchers, which allow parents to use public
funding to send their children to private schools, Patrick said
afterward that the legislation was still evolving. He indicated that it
could include a measure that would be along the lines of "what some
people might call vouchers."
- Here's detail on Patrick's focus on education.
