Take Advantage of Texas Open Primary Laws

[UT alum]

I’m votin’ Republican in the Primary, ya’ll.  We libs can use our vote where it will count. Right now that’s not the Democratic Primary. I’m going to vote against Janice Holt. How a trustee of a public school system can support vouchers is incomprehensible to me. I don’t want my school tax dollars going to fund any private school. That position is untenable for someone elected to govern a public school. Vote Bailes.

[AggiesAreWe]

7 minutes ago, UT alum said:

I’m votin’ Republican in the Primary, ya’ll.  We libs can use our vote where it will count. Right now that’s not the Democratic Primary. I’m going to vote against Janice Holt. How a trustee of a public school system can support vouchers is incomprehensible to me. I don’t want my school tax dollars going to fund any private school. That position is untenable for someone elected to govern a public school. Vote Bailes.

I agree. A school board trustee of a public ISD should not be in favor of school vouchers.

[myrecordwashorrible]

24 minutes ago, AggiesAreWe said:

I agree. A school board trustee of a public ISD should not be in favor of school vouchers.

Disagree.  Tax payer in the community has a right to run for office on the school and have input on the local district regardless of that stance. If the local community disagrees, vote said individual off the local school board. 

[5GallonBucket]

14 hours ago, UT alum said:

I’m votin’ Republican in the Primary, ya’ll.  We libs can use our vote where it will count. Right now that’s not the Democratic Primary. I’m going to vote against Janice Holt. How a trustee of a public school system can support vouchers is incomprehensible to me. I don’t want my school tax dollars going to fund any private school. That position is untenable for someone elected to govern a public school. Vote Bailes.

I agree with this.  But also I see why many are leaving the public school system for private or home school….when nonsense is being pushed and taught to children and when govt is calling parents terrorist when they want to protect THEIR children this is what you get and you can thank your self and your friends for the lost faith from those that pay taxes

and also agree with @myrecordwashorrible

taxpayer can run for office.  Don’t like it vote person out

 

[SmashMouth]

18 hours ago, UT alum said:

I’m votin’ Republican in the Primary, ya’ll.  We libs can use our vote where it will count. Right now that’s not the Democratic Primary. I’m going to vote against Janice Holt. How a trustee of a public school system can support vouchers is incomprehensible to me. I don’t want my school tax dollars going to fund any private school. That position is untenable for someone elected to govern a public school. Vote Bailes.

I haven't looked yet. How did that work out?

[SmashMouth]

I am a pretty conservative guy, but I am against school vouchers. Who pays for the public schools (several of which were just built in my town of Lumberton)?

I have yet to hear a comprehensive argument that pushes me to the school voucher system, and I've read quite a few.

And I really have issues with taxpayer money being given to private "for profit" schools.

[LumRaiderFan]

23 minutes ago, SmashMouth said:

I am a pretty conservative guy, but I am against school vouchers. Who pays for the public schools (several of which were just built in my town of Lumberton)?

I have yet to hear a comprehensive argument that pushes me to the school voucher system, and I've read quite a few.

And I really have issues with taxpayer money being given to private "for profit" schools.

What do you tell someone that lives a poorly managed school district and moving wasn't an option?  

[Reagan]

19 hours ago, UT alum said:

I’m votin’ Republican in the Primary, ya’ll.  We libs can use our vote where it will count. Right now that’s not the Democratic Primary. I’m going to vote against Janice Holt. How a trustee of a public school system can support vouchers is incomprehensible to me. I don’t want my school tax dollars going to fund any private school. That position is untenable for someone elected to govern a public school. Vote Bailes.

2024 Texas Republican Primary Elections Results - State House District 18

Updated 2:29 PM CST Mar. 06, 2024

99% est. vote in*Incumbent

Candidate		% Votes	Total Votes
Janis Holt (R)		53.2%	15,005
Ernest Bailes (R)*		38.8%	10,960
Stephen Missick (R)		8%	2,257

[SmashMouth]

20 minutes ago, LumRaiderFan said:

What do you tell someone that lives a poorly managed school district and moving wasn't an option?  

You're right. And it's unfortunate. If moving isn't an option, then go to another district possibly that has an open campus? There are plenty of open school districts. There's not usually a school bus to service private schools at this point, so the child already has to get picked up / dropped off.

Regardless, there are plenty of reasons against it. A voucher program that allows any Texas student to use public money (I like to think of it as "my money") to offset the cost of private-school tuition would divert dollars from public schools, tightening already tight public school budgets, without a proportionate reduction in public school costs - possibly to the point of raising taxes to keep them afloat. I also think it will incentivize the private schools to raise price of tuition (to put in their own back pockets) because they are getting subsidized by, that's right, my money.

 

[LumRaiderFan]

12 minutes ago, SmashMouth said:

You're right. And it's unfortunate. If moving isn't an option, then go to another district possibly that has an open campus? There are plenty of open school districts. There's not usually a school bus to service private schools at this point, so the child already has to get picked up / dropped off.

Regardless, there are plenty of reasons against it. A voucher program that allows any Texas student to use public money (I like to think of it as "my money") to offset the cost of private-school tuition would divert dollars from public schools, tightening already tight public school budgets, without a proportionate reduction in public school costs - possibly to the point of raising taxes to keep them afloat. I also think it will incentivize the private schools to raise price of tuition (to put in their own back pockets) because they are getting subsidized by, that's right, my money.

 

I realize there are issues, both ways, but it is also "their" money if they are a taxpayer.  I think the only thing that would improve a poorly managed school district is competition.

I think it's an option to consider if someone needs one, at the end of the day, it's about the kids, not an ISD.

[SmashMouth]

16 hours ago, LumRaiderFan said:

I realize there are issues, both ways, but it is also "their" money if they are a taxpayer.  I think the only thing that would improve a poorly managed school district is competition.

I think it's an option to consider if someone needs one, at the end of the day, it's about the kids, not an ISD.

We will have to respectfully disagree. Because at the end of the day, I think the school vouchers will do more harm than good. If you really want to go point by point, I can do that. But it's a lot. I'm not saying school vouchers don't have some merit. Just not enough in my opinion.

[LumRaiderFan]

10 minutes ago, SmashMouth said:

We will have to respectfully disagree. Because at the end of the day, I think the school vouchers will do more harm than good. If you really want to go point by point, I can do that. But it's a lot. I'm not saying school vouchers don't have some merit. Just not enough in my opinion.

We will have to respectfully disagree, I can't see taking any option off the table that could place a kid in a better learning environment when the option to move is not possible.

[CardinalBacker]

For people who really hate income redistribution, it’s remarkable that the Rs want to tax the public, then hand that money to other people to spend as they see fit. 

[SmashMouth]

22 minutes ago, LumRaiderFan said:

We will have to respectfully disagree, I can't see taking any option off the table that could place a kid in a better learning environment when the option to move is not possible.

You don't have to move. Go to another district of your liking. Folks do it all the time.

[LumRaiderFan]

5 minutes ago, SmashMouth said:

You don't have to move. Go to another district of your liking. Folks do it all the time.

I would rather take MY money and put it in my school of choice that's better for my kid.  We're coming at this from two different directions, your concern seems to be protect an ISD while mine is not.  I also think that school taxes should have an expectation of a decent return on investment and if not, customers can take their business, and their money, elsewhere.

 

 

[LumRaiderFan]

22 minutes ago, CardinalBacker said:

For people who really hate income redistribution, it’s remarkable that the Rs want to tax the public, then hand that money to other people to spend as they see fit. 

Only Rs want to tax the public,  gotcha.

lol lol

[SmashMouth]

The average annual tuition for a private school lands between $10,000 and $12,000. The proposed voucher would give a kid approx. $8,000 dollars toward that tuition. The family still has to come up with the balance.

Let's say you have a kid that goes to a private. Dad's a lawyer, banker, businessman, etc. and pays the full tuition to send his kid to the private school. With the voucher system in place, the Dad will now get $8,000 towards the kid's tuition. A net savings of let's say $2,000 on the low side. No problem, right?

Meanwhile, another family who is not so fortunate who sends their kid to public school has the same opportunity to send their child to private school and pay the $2,000 difference. Awesome, right? Only problem is they can't afford it, so that kid stays in public school that is now getting less funding.

Net sum, the better off family gets a break on sending their kid to a private school for a helluva lot less, and the lesser off family is stuck in the same place they were to begin with. All to pay a privatized for profit institution and have the quality of the public school fall even further behind.

[SmashMouth]

7 minutes ago, LumRaiderFan said:

I would rather take MY money and put it in my school of choice that's better for my kid.  We're coming at this from two different directions, your concern seems to be protect an ISD while mine is not.  I also think that school taxes should have an expectation of a decent return on investment and if not, customers can take their business, and their money, elsewhere.

 

 

Once again, I understand your point. But it’s a flawed system. It’s probably not going to pass in Texas anyway, but the way they have it set up, it’s bound to fail. 
By the way, my last child graduated from public school almost 3 years ago. Where’s my return on investment now? Should I be exempt from school tax?

[LumRaiderFan]

1 minute ago, SmashMouth said:

The average annual tuition for a private school lands between 10,000 to 12,000. The proposed voucher would give a kid approx. $8,000 dollars toward that tuition. The family still has to come up with the balance.

Let's say you have a kid that goes to a private. Dad's a lawyer, banker, businessman, etc. and pays the full tuition to send his kid to the private school. With the voucher system in place, the Dad will now get $8,000 towards the kid's tuition. A net savings of let's say $2,000 on the low side. No problem, right?

Meanwhile, another family who is not so fortunate who sends their kid to public school has the same opportunity to send their child to private school and pay the $2,000 difference. Awesome, right? Only problem is they can't afford it, so that kid stays in public school that is now getting less funding.

Net sum, the better off family gets a break on sending their kid to a private school for a helluva lot less, and the lesser off family is stuck in the same place they were to begin with. All to pay a privatized for profit institution and have the quality of the public school fall even further behind.

You seem to want the government to pick winners and losers, I don't.  Doesn't matter if someone is a lawyer, it's their money, vouchers would allow them to spend it as they please.

I feel the same way about social security and medicare, I've always had a problem with government taking my money with no option to spend it where I see fit, same goes for education.

Texas is the last stand at the moment, but there will come a day when the garbage that is taught in public schools will make lots of folks rethink the idea of vouchers.

We'll probably have to agree to disagree and that's ok.

 

 

[SmashMouth]

1 minute ago, LumRaiderFan said:

Texas is the last stand at the moment, but there will come a day when the garbage that is taught in public schools will make lots of folks rethink the idea of vouchers.

So legislate what can/can't be taught in schools instead of trying to set-up an overpriced education system that ignores middle and lower class. I don't like what's being taught in some of our public schools either. I'm just not for paying even more than I already should be in school taxes.

[SmashMouth]

30 minutes ago, LumRaiderFan said:

We'll probably have to agree to disagree and that's ok.

 

I can agree with that. Discussion is a way to learn. One or both of us may learn something from it. That's what's wrong these days. We have an "all or none" concept. If Reagan and Tip O'Neil hadn't learned to reach across the aisle, Reagan would have been a much less effective President.

[LumRaiderFan]

1 minute ago, SmashMouth said:

So legislate what can/can't be taught in schools instead of trying to set-up an overpriced education system that ignores middle and lower class. I don't like what's being taught in some of our public schools either. I'm just not for paying even more than I already should be in school taxes.

No more legislation, it's supposed to be an Independent School District.  If you're not running it right, give folks the option to take their money and leave.  More legislation is definitely not the answer, the less government in education (or anything for that matter) the better.

[LumRaiderFan]

11 minutes ago, SmashMouth said:

Once again, I understand your point. But it’s a flawed system. It’s probably not going to pass in Texas anyway, but the way they have it set up, it’s bound to fail. 
By the way, my last child graduated from public school almost 3 years ago. Where’s my return on investment now? Should I be exempt from school tax?

That's one that has a lot of discussion behind it but I can't see being exempt from school tax.  Personally, if a school district is losing lots of kids to vouchers, there's a problem that I would expect would get some attention and hopefully get fixed to bring kids back.

The best scenario is a well run Independent school district.

[CardinalBacker]

3 hours ago, LumRaiderFan said:

No more legislation, it's supposed to be an Independent School District.  If you're not running it right, give folks the option to take their money and leave.  More legislation is definitely not the answer, the less government in education (or anything for that matter) the better.

The problem is, it’s not their money. 
 

The cost to educate a kid is around 10k per student.  The typical family MIGHT be paying 2000 in school taxes, but taking 16-20k of tax funds away from public schools. 

[LumRaiderFan]

43 minutes ago, CardinalBacker said:

The problem is, it’s not their money. 
 

The cost to educate a kid is around 10k per student.  The typical family MIGHT be paying 2000 in school taxes, but taking 16-20k of tax funds away from public schools. 

True, but if a school district is failing to provide a proper education, the option to take that funding to provide a better opportunity for your kids is not a bad idea.