Similar debate is taking place in the state’s homeschooling community as the Texas Legislature is considering creating an education savings account, a program like a voucher that gives family taxpayer funds to private education payments.
“There’s also a divided line in the homeschool world,” said Deena Minter, a homeschooler in the Dallas area.
Both the Texas House and the Senate included homeschoolers in their education savings account plans.
In the Senate version, homeschooling families receive at least $2,000 a year, while students with disabilities can receive $2,500 a year. House bills do not allow homeschoolers to award more than $2,000 per grade.
“It’s necessary for many homeschooled families who only earn one income, and I find it difficult to pay everything,” Minter said. “I put money into a school system that I don’t use every year, so I think it makes sense to let people choose what they’re doing with that money to educate their kids.”
Minter said he will use voucher funds for cooperative classes and extracurricular activities. She became interested in education savings accounts after talking to Anita Scott, the policy director for the Texas Home Schools Union.
The nonprofit advocacy group said, “We are firmly supporting school vouchers as long as they do not interfere or violate the freedoms that Texas homeschool families have experienced over 30 years.
According to Scott, the Texas homeschool coalition worked closely with Senator Brandon Clayton, sponsored by R-Conroe. This includes talking through the general costs faced by homeschoolers.
Scott said the coalition recognizes $2,000 a year may not pay all the costs homeschooling families face, but “it’s a way to offset those costs.”
The Texas Homeschools Coalition is also “very happy” in the provisions of the bill, which aims to protect homeschoolers’ autonomy, Scott said.
The Senate Act includes a section that states that the requirements of the law do not apply to homeschoolers who are not participating in the Educational Savings Account Program.
The House version prohibits Texas agencies and officials from impose requirements that restrict participants from their freedom to choose their curriculum or teaching methods. The Senate bill is similar, but allows state intervention if there is “persuasive government interests.”
“How all government overreach begins”
However, not all homeschoolers support educational savings accounts.
Sarah Johnson, a Houston area resident who homeschools one daughter, said that if a voucher is approved in Texas, others will be separated from public schools.
“People don’t understand what it does to the community,” Johnson said. “When our public schools are bad, it increases crime rates and increases drug use. Teachers are not only teaching, but catching our parents who can be overlooked for hours and hours a day.”
Johnson said she would rather have the $2,000 she could potentially receive in order to attend a local public school in person.
“My kids may be homeschooled, but they still play with the kids in the community,” she said. “If these kids aren’t getting the intervention they do, then who knows what will happen. I don’t understand how people can think that taking away public schools isn’t harmful to our children.”
Crystal Bradshaw, who homeschools three children and runs two local homeschoolers groups in the Corpus Christi area, said the government doesn’t want to be more involved in education choices.
“We need help, we need financial support, but we can’t come like this,” Bradshaw said. “This is the beginning of all government overreach. It starts with them waving something flashy in your face. It starts with these vouchers, but ultimately grows into obligation.”
Both Johnson and Bradshaw expressed concern about the state creating the curriculum needed for homeschoolers. For Bradshaw, the proposed law is already in place.
Both the Texas Senator and the House bill require that the education service provider or vendor be approved in advance by the state before participating families can pay with the voucher fund.
“My family, we are free to enjoy school from everyone,” Bradshaw said. “We want to choose our own curriculum. We want to live by our own standards. When we read the bill, it’s very clear that we have to meet (state) standards to get these vouchers. Yeah, there’s an option to choose which (state accredited curriculum) you choose, but they’re all held to state standards that we don’t personally believe in.”
