But hope for the teacher raises died with the Texas Republicans’ ongoing feud over a private school voucher program.A coalition of public education advocates, as they have done during the session, made their frustrations known. Those groups are placing the blame for no new dollars for public school and teachers on the Senate. And they are rallying resistance against an anticipated special session on school vouchers.
Melissa Moy, a teacher at Yung Wing School P.S. 124, goes over a lesson with in-person summer program students on a monitor on July 22, 2021 in New York City. Plano ISD Board President Nancy Humphrey says they asked whether private schools funded with public dollars would be held to the same standards of accountability and got no answers.
"We were told in rural Texas that vouchers would not hurt our schools," said Michael Lee, Texas Association of Rural School. "However, when House Bill 100 went from the House to the Senate, they reduced small and mid-size allotments. They reduced transportation by 30%. They reduced the raises we were going to give teachers. They hurt all public schools."