By Joy Gjersvold, Programs Director, Conservative Ladies of America
Parents all over the country are watching the Texas legislative session to see if one of the most conservative states in the country will fall to the Trojan horse known as “School Choice.” Texas GOP representatives made sure to cover all their bases filing companion bills in both the House and the Senate: HB 3 and SB 2.
After much anticipation, the House Public Education Committee canceled a hearing for SB 2 scheduled for April 1. They then rescheduled the meeting for Thursday, April 3, but decided to call the hearing a formal meeting instead of a hearing which gave them the ability to skip the livestream so that all Texans could access the hearing in real time. Not surprisingly, SB 2 was voted out of committee on April 1 and it is now headed to the House floor for a full vote.
The hope for the citizens of the great state of Texas is the constitutional grassroots opposition to these “school choice” bills. Grayson County Conservatives composed a compelling letter to the legislature following the hearing for HB 3 outlining the fiscal impact for taxpayers, explicit concerns about the bill itself, and the specific number of citizens who engaged in the process to voice their opposition. The citizens of Texas made it exceptionally clear that they do not want the government interfering with homeschool or private schools. As of March 31, there are over 50 pages of signatures in opposition to HB 3 and SB2 including eight large homeschool groups from across Texas representing over 7,000 homeschool families, individual citizens, and conservative organizations across Texas with support from conservatives all over the country.
What is it about “school choice” that parents and citizens object to? Don’t “school choice” bills ensure liberty and the ability for parents to choose the best educational opportunities for their children? Don’t let the deliberately misleading name fool you.
School choice:
- is being pushed by the GOP and organizations that claim to be champions for parental rights.
- is part of the UNESCO global education agenda. It’s their way of gaining access to what they call “non-state actors,” like homeschool and private schools, to bring all education opportunities into a single, government system. Read the UNESCO “school choice” plan here.
- uses ClassWallet, an app contracted with the government to distribute voucher and ESA funds, which uses a blockchain data mining distribution system to monitor and record every single homeschool and private school transaction giving the government full access to your curriculum and other school decisions.
- gives full access to homeschool and privates schools–the only true school choices that parents have to escape the government Education Industrial Complex. Many of the existing “school choice” bills across the nation include language like “approved curriculum” and set existing public school requirements that will be applied to homeschool families and private schools. These requirements include background checks, vaccine schedules, testing, curriculum, and data collection–whether you take the money or not.
SB 2 in Texas takes this government access to a whole new level. The fiscal impact as it grows the government to manage the “school choice” program will be over $1B through 2027 and over $11B through 2030.
In addition to growing the government and adding a burdensome fiscal note, Texas SB 2 allows eligibility for illegal immigrants and 16 of the 25 Muslim private schools in Texas are already accredited and qualify to accept funds from the “school choice” program. Taxpayers should never be forced to pay for educational opportunities that conflict with their worldview.
The most concerning part, if there is a “most” to any of this bill, is specific language that gives the government the right to decide at any moment that the choices you make for your children no longer serve the purpose of the government. The powers that be can make changes to the “school choice” program without legislative oversight if there is “compelling governmental interest.” Alarmingly, this same language, word for word, appears in a new parental rights Senate Joint Resolution, SJR 34, which has the support of organizations claiming to be champions of parental rights.
If you would like more information about how to engage in the fight to protect your God given right to choose the best education opportunities for your children, be sure to contact the Grayson County Conservatives. There are many constitutional conservatives on the frontlines in Texas working diligently to defend liberty and the rights you already have ensuring that you may choose what is best for the education of your children.
Contact: Joy@conservativeladiesofamerica.com
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