When state lawmakers return to work in Austin next month, advocates for the public education system will have a new ally in the business lobby.
Despite touting itself as a haven for business, Texas currently ranks in the bottom 10 states in the U.S. when it comes to education costs per student, according to the nonprofit organization Raise Your Hand Texas. , which is $4,000 less per student than the national average.
The state has not increased per-pupil spending, known as Texas’ base allocation, since 2019.
As this dynamic begins to pose a growing threat to the future workforce, business leaders across the state are poised to change it.
“The majority of our production talent comes from this region, especially those close to our plants. That means most of our team members are from Bexar County and surrounding ISDs,” said San Antonio-based Toyota. Motor Manufacturing of Texas President Susan Cousunas spoke at a recent forum about the Bexar County Education Coalition (BCEC), a nonprofit organization that advocates for public policy on behalf of the county’s school districts.
“As a business, we all know that quality requires intentional investment,” she said. “That is what our public school system needs now more than ever, and that is why we are all gathered here today. Because it’s involved in what’s going on.”
Last legislative session, the Texas Legislature seemed likely to make major investments in the public education system, but Gov. Greg Abbott made a last-minute move to tie the school voucher program to public school funding. claimed, and its prospects dimmed.
As a result, Bexar County area school districts, including those surrounding Toyota’s South Side manufacturing plant, are closing campuses, laying off staff, cutting summer programs and cutting back on major infrastructure projects to save money. applied the brakes.
At the BCEC Forum held this month at the McNay Art Museum, leaders from the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, Metro SA Chamber of Commerce, South Texas Business Partnership, and San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce all spoke about the system. said it was reaching a breaking point. And he brandished a lobbying agenda for the state to turn things around.
“We are not naive enough to believe that public education is not currently under attack in Texas,” said Brett, president and CEO of the Metro SA Chamber (formerly the North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce). Finley says. “Consider the chambers here in town, including the four of us, as an extension of your advocacy efforts in the next Texas Legislature.”
“It’s going to be a tough battle.”
realistic agenda
Notably, there was no mention in the conversation of education savings accounts, or school vouchers, which many public school advocates see as the biggest threat to their future.
The initiative, which allows parents to extract tax money from public schools and use it to pay for other education-related costs, such as private school tuition, has become a top priority for Mr. Over the past year, it has spent millions of dollars electing new members of Congress who agree with this idea. They about that issue.
Against this backdrop, business groups lobbying on a variety of issues say they need to be able to work with everyone in Austin and remain focused on goals they deem achievable.
Rather than draw the line under school vouchers, as BCEC and other public school advocacy groups have done, a closer look at the lobbying efforts of local business groups shows that they are pushing public schools to support a strong workforce. The company said it is focused on “fully funding” the project.
The San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce also said they want to see if the voucher program is actually approved and that school systems receiving taxpayer funds are subject to the same accountability standards. He said that it was necessary to impose
“I think the governor has the right to vote on (school vouchers),” Greater Chamber of Commerce President Mario Varela said in an interview. “The ESA will be with us. The question is, in what form? What responsibilities and metrics will it have?”
“I think as a quadrilateral and as a business community in San Antonio, all we’re really focused on is funding our public schools and increasing teacher salaries,” he added.
While some public school advocates aren’t buying the idea that vouchers are inevitable, educators at the event were still grateful for their new allies.
State Republican leaders focused last year’s public education debate on conservatives fighting for school choice on behalf of parents, Democrats opposing it on behalf of teachers unions, and a small number of Republican defectors. I drew it.
This year, they won’t be able to make that claim.
“I look at this room and say, ‘Look, this is what’s happening here,'” Fort Sam Houston Independent School District Superintendent Gary Bates said at the forum. “Everyone under the same roof may have differences of opinion, but what unites us is educating every student, every child.”
school business case
Kazunas’ keynote address at the event hinted at what kind of arguments business leaders might bring to the Capitol this year, but she said after the event that Toyota would not be lobbying lawmakers directly on the issue. Ta.
Kazunas said Toyota, like most companies considering putting down roots in San Antonio, recognized that the education system could be an issue.
The area surrounding the company’s Southside manufacturing plant, where Tundra and Tacoma trucks and Sequoia SUVs are made, is considered economically disadvantaged and has some of the lowest educational attainment levels in the county. .
To help build a talent pipeline at the 3,700-employee plant, 80% of positions require only a basic skills assessment, but Toyota has spent the past 20 years on community programs. Approximately 75% of the $50 million will go directly to grants to school districts surrounding the plant, STEM education, workforce development initiatives and other education-related programs.
“We are building the workforce of tomorrow,” Kazunas said.
Business leaders who have invested heavily in such partnerships want the state to maintain its own approach to public education, withdrawing funding from public schools and not holding them to the same accountability standards. Rather than support another education system that doesn’t mandate education. all children.
Kazunas did not mention the school voucher fight, instead encouraging event attendees to support their local chambers and BCEC in their fight.
“As parents, I think I can speak for most of us when we say we want our children to grow up to contribute to society and lead meaningful and productive lives,” Kazunas said. . …Do you know which institution is best positioned to help these students succeed? The public education system. ”
Disclosure: Mario Barrera provided legal advice to The San Antonio Report in his professional capacity as an attorney.
