Vouchers in GCISD? A Deep Dive Summary:

• Are vouchers for private schools a better alternative to “government schools” aka public schools? The answer is no.
• Some in our community are friendly to vouchers or charter schools, including a former mayor now-school board candidate.
• Breaking with PTA for the first time in history, the GCISD New School Board Majority removed the annual “no vouchers, no charter schools” statement from its legislative priorities this year.

What is the thread connecting the former Mayor of Colleyville with the GCISD school board decision to break from a long-standing PTA supported initiative with the Texas legislature‘s move to provide $8K for private schools?

The answer: School Vouchers to fund private charter schools. 

And why should GCISD citizens care about these connections?

Families who value their public school education and the community at large should question why a charter school supporter like Newton is now running to be a trustee of a public school. 

Part I. As mayor, Richard Newton endorsed a charter school company called ResponsiveEd “that would like to get a school started in Colleyville.”

The scene is Spring 2021 at a Colleyville City Council Meeting. Mayor Richard Newton, who is a current candidate for GCISD School Board, spoke from the dais about his meeting with ResponsiveEd, a company that runs charter schools in Texas in collaboration with Hillsdale College. Newton says he is a “strong supporter” of Hillsdale College, especially its curriculum of Christian education and the Constitution.

In the video, Newton says the company’s representative has talked to a few pastors in town because the company would like to get a school started in Colleyville.

Watch the video and read the email between Newton and the rep, Kalese Whitehurst:

What is Classical Education? Do you notice that the document titled ResponsiveEd (above), there is no mention of “Christian education,” which is what then-Mayor Richard Newton stated that he liked about Hillsdale/ResponsiveEd bringing to Colleyville. Why does the document not state that a ResponsiveEd school is Christian — is this what “Classical education” means? Yes, according to a cover story by Christianity Today that provides insight into Classical Education and states “evangelicals are becoming the new champions of the pagan classics.” Read more documentation about the Classical education movement on Wikipedia.
Several community speakers at the GCISD Board of Trustees’ open forum have begun promoting a return to Classical education. Why?

---

Part II. Texas Monthly exposes ResponsiveEd for voucher scheme that would divert public school funds to private companies

Source: Inside the Secret Plan to Bring Private School Vouchers to Texas, from Texas Monthly, by Forrest Wilder, October 18, 2022

“Political operatives descended on the Hill Country town of Wimberley with a scheme to send taxpayer dollars to private schools. Now they’re shopping the same blueprint elsewhere. …”

“One of the authors of the plan was Aaron Harris, a Fort Worth–based GOP consultant … along with Monty Bennett, a wealthy Dallas hotelier who dabbles in what he regards as education reform. …”

“The other author was Kalese Whitehurst, an executive with the charter school chain Responsive Education Solutions, based in Lewisville, a half hour north of Dallas. …”

“The scheme was complex but it pursued a simple goal: turning taxpayer dollars intended for public education into funds for private schools. The kids would be counted as Wimberley ISD students enrolled at the Achievement Campus, thus drawing significant money to the district. (In Texas, public schools receive funding based in large part on how many students attend school each day.) But the tax dollars their “attendance” brought to the district would be redirected to private institutions across the state. …”

“The most transformative of a set of policies often described by proponents as “school choice,” vouchers allow students to attend private schools using taxpayer dollars. For more than sixty years, school-choice enthusiasts have tried, and failed, to create a voucher program in Texas. Texas’s first dalliance with vouchers came in the wake of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ordered desegregation of public schools.“

The Texas Monthly article concludes: “When I spoke to [Joe Basel, the self-styled “systemic disruption” consultant], he conceded that his reputation didn’t help his cause. But he hasn’t given up on passing the voucher program. “It’s still my goal,” he told me. “Other districts are considering it.” He declined to name which ones.”

---

Part III. For the first time in history, the GCISD New School Board Majority voted 4-3 to remove the annual “no vouchers, no charter schools” statement from its 2023 legislative priorities — signaling support for the state to take even more funding away from GCISD and abandoning their oath to GCISD families.

A voucher system gives money to private and religious schools without requiring them to follow the same accountability standards and open admission policy as public schools.

The Texas Legislature convenes every other year.  The School Board creates a list of legislative priorities to communicate the district’s needs and goals to Texas Senators and Representatives as they write and pass laws. Independently, the PTA will create its own legislative priorities. 

Sometimes, seeing events on a timeline helps us understand the bigger picture. What do you see? What questions do you have so far?

• Why are the extremists pretending they don’t know our Council of PTAs?

• Why is our Public School Board of Trustees refusing to collaborate with PTA on a pro-public school stance?

• Historically, only communities with low-performing public schools get charter school approval. Is this why they are cutting funding and creating chaos?
• Would someone trying to bring a charter school to Colleyville be someone we should elect to serve on our public school board of trustees?
• Who is eyeing our community for voucher/charter schools — and whose pockets will benefit from the payout potential?

Part IV. GCISD citizens should ask, as communities all over the country are asking: Can a private school serve students better than a publicly funded school?

We need to be aware that the same organization and people who wanted to take over Wimberly ISD “would like to get a school started in Colleyville,” said then-Mayor Richard Newton.

Will private schools be accountable to taxpayers? Currently the State does not require private/charters to administer the STAAR student performance test, to provide financial reporting or accountability, or to comply with Special Education rules.

Private schools may exclude students because of a diagnosis that the private school is not equipped to serve, such as dyslexia or diabetes.

Did you know: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal law that protects individuals with disabilities from discrimination. However, the ADA contains an exemption for religious institutions, including religious schools. Therefore, the ADA does not apply to religious schools or offer students attending these schools protection from discrimination.” Source: American Diabetes Association

What if a family is suddenly unable to afford tuition, if a parent dies or loses a lucrative job? How soon would the student need to transfer to the free, under-funded public school? Private schools also rely heavily on private donations from families instead of fully rolling the cost of service into tuition, likely eliminating families who can only afford to attend due to the government subsidized education voucher.

Private schools may reject students who do not adhere to the religious code of the school. It’s already happened in a Colleyville private school. In 2020, a longtime student was expelled from the private religious school after coming out as gay.

In summary

A takeover of our public school system by private schools will create an underclass of under-educated people in a single generation.

Vouchers don’t add up for Texas children. It is a sneaky move to privatize education, will immediately harm our local schools, and in the end, dismantle the right to a public education in America.

Don’t give up on public schools. Everyone belongs in a public school. We are GCISD!

Links for more

School choice bill tries to sway: Will focus on parental rights, increased funding help GOP pass tuition savings accounts?

Governor Abbott tours private Christian schools (Exclusively) to make the case for vouchers

Carthage ISD superintendent says vouchers would be detrimental to public schools: “There is nothing conservative about taking public dollars and then providing them to people with no accountability for how those dollars are spent or the outcomes associated with those dollars”

Billionaires and their investors are impacting education policies in Colorado and especially in Denver Public Schools (DPS)

Deep in the Pockets of Texas: A CNN Documentary about the big, big money aimed at destroying public schools.

Jesus Said to Expel the Gay Kid

High School Senior Kicked Out of Private Colleyville School for Being Gay

Pastors for Texas Children — Anti-Voucher Talking Points

March 30 update: What to watch for: The current bill states that current private school students are not eligible, so what is the harm? As in many policy roll-outs, a bill is reduced to what is most likely to be accepted and seems innocuous, but then once the ball gets rolling, it is more easily updated in future sessions. And before you know it, voila, a completely privatized system of education, no longer public schools for public good.

Click on our Home Page to review all of our Deep Dives and recent updates.