Graham ISD board voices voucher law concerns

The Graham ISD school board signed an anti-voucher resolution on Tuesday, April 11, to show their opposition to SB 3, which if passed by the legislature would reduce the amount of public education funding those schools receive. One of the major concerns about the bill is that it would take money from public schools and give that same funding to private schools, which are not held to the same state rules traditional public schools, GISD Superintendent Sonny Cruse said. “It only affects 17 counties in the state of Texas right now, but it does in my opinion represent bad public school policy because it is kind of Pandora’s box if you will,” he said. “It will be inching away at it and right now and they have been steadfast to provide to state money for this program but have none of the accountability requirements that the public school system has.” The bill was passed in the Texas Senate by a vote of 18 for and 13 against March 30 and since then has been received by the Texas House of Representatives. The bill would open up the possibly of vouchers, tax credit scholarships and education savings accounts. For the rest of this story, subscribe to our print or online edition.