Do you support Texas’ proposal to create education savings accounts?

👍 Yes (28%) – "While it will give money to wealthy families that don’t necessarily need it, the benefit to low-income families to have private schooling-which are largely better than public schooling- is greater than any animosity I have toward the wealthy getting it."

• "Freedom of choice for using the money that they pay into a system is a good thing. I am a teacher and believe in the public school system as long as you have good teachers and administators, but it is not always one size fits all. One kid may thrive in a public school setting, while one may thrive in a private school setting. Those who oppose want control and don't want to face the reality of what needs to happen to ensure a good public school education. There are many private schools who will supplement or give grants for students who can't quite afford it."

"Public school systems are becoming more liberal and insist on teaching things and influencing children in direct opposition to parents wishes. Therefore, conservative parents should have an option to removed their children from that environment. It would also send a clear message to public schools that this is not what parents want."

👎 No (59%) – "It hurts public schools who receive their funding based on enrollment. By providing public dollars as an incentive to attend private or charter schools, this reduces enrollment in public schools and reduces their funding creating a reduction in services. This in turn discourages parents from sending their children to that same public school, further reducing enrollment and creating a death spiral. The idea that we need to force public schools, which generally are barely receiving enough funding to keep their basic projects going, to compete for students with private or charter schools with more money to spend on smaller student bodies and therefore can offer more specialized programming, is a complete farce."

• "Most private schools do not have separation of church and state, and I don’t believe that public funding should pay for that. That 8,000 per pupil would be better off to help public schools revamp and have much needed funds"

"There are many ways to look at this issue. Through a competitive lens or a parental choice lens, this law seems innocent enough. Wouldn’t it force schools to improve the services they offer and give parents more autonomy over their child’s education? Ultimately, what will benefit Texas and the United States the most, is using the equity lens. And this lens is where the law fails us the most. Securing public education and guaranteeing a strong education for all young Texans and Americans, regardless of financial status, is what will empower our youngest citizens to become the leaders of tomorrow."

• "It would create a disadvantage for those who don’t have the option to send their kid to a private school. Private schools are not held to the same standard of public schools either."

"8K a year is not enough to cover all the expenses needed for private education. Therefore rendering the “more opportunities for all students” clause irrelevant. It’s only more opportunities for students whose families are able to cover the remaining cost. Public education is the right of every student, private education is the choice of the family. If the government is not monitoring private education in the exact same ways it monitors public education, government funds should not be used."

🤷 Unsure/other (13%) – "I would absolutely support this for higher education in state-run universities. But using public funds for private schooling, not so much."