Tommy Schultz, CEO of American Federation for Children (AFC), is backing the school choice movement in Texas, citing data on the poor reading levels of students in Texas schools.
AFC is an advocacy group that promotes school choice as a fundamental right for parents. AFC offers model legislation for states to adopt.
"Seventy percent of fourth-graders in Texas can't read at their grade level. Texas families desperately need school choice," Schultz tweeted April 21. "The future of Texas depends on it."
According to AFC's model legislation, the Education Savings Account Act "allows parents to use the funds that would have been allocated to their child at their residential school district for an education program of the parents’ choosing."
With an ESA program, every parent with an eligible student receives the same amount that is designated per child through the public school system. Parents can then use the funds for approved educational purposes, such as private school, homeschooling, tutoring, textbooks and any other educational expense that is approved by the department that would control the ESA.
The AFC has tracked 31 states that have private school choice programs with 10 states that have an ESA program set up. The average scholarship amount in ESA programs is $9,239. AFC says evidence from school choice has been determined to improve academic outcomes significantly. AFC's data found that school choice programs are also beneficial, as they save taxpayers money, as well as reduce racial segregation.
According to 17 empirical studies on school choice in private schools, 11 showed improvement in test scores, four showed no significant effect and two showed negative effects, according to the American Federation for Children's own research. In public schools, 20 out of 21 found positive impacts from school choice. Twenty-five out of 28 studies found that taxpayers saved money. Nine out of 10 studies found that school choice helped students move into less-segregated schools.
According to The Dallas Morning News, an ESA proposal has already gained support from eight Republican state senators, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R-TX) has made it a focus for the legislative session. However, urban Democrats and rural Republicans oppose school choice bills, claiming they would divert funds away from public schools in Texas.
The bill includes a provision that says public school districts with fewer than 20,000 students would receive a significant benefit from a "hold harmless" provision, ensuring that their funding is not abruptly and substantially impacted when students leave the public school. These schools would be granted $10,000 for every student who departs for a private school, exceeding the base payment of about $6,000 per student that public schools typically receive.
