The front entrance of the school is pictured where students and staff can often be seen entering and exiting. Gov. Greg Abbott new proposal has the potential to take money away from public school's like Highland Park. Photo by Matteo Winandy
By OS Keijsers Koning
Being offered money to transfer schools is a huge opportunity and some parents will take it.
Gov. Greg Abbott has been attempting to implement a new waiver, known as “school choice.” School choice allows parents to use Texas state funds, which are usually directed towards public schools, in order to move their child out of public school into a private or a charter school.
"So you're not really solving the low income dilemma of school choice for low socioeconomic status kids, which is what the bill is set out to do in the first place"
"I think the sentiment is correct,” Biology and Medical Microbiology teacher Meredith Townsend said. “We want to find a way for parents to get involved in their kids' education. I don't think anyone disagrees that we want kids to have the best public education that they can be given.”
The school choice waiver is named on the account to give parents more options for their children’s education.
Although the waiver holds a bold and noble idea, the waiver places many restrictions on the public school system.
"I think the problem with this [is] you're still not solving the gaps in low socioeconomic groups that probably have a harder time getting teachers and things in our schools by giving them an amount of money that's not going to cover an entire tuition to begin with," Townsend said.
The school choice waiver gives parents money for each kid that they can use to pay off a portion of the private or charter school tuition. However, the parents still have to pay the remaining amount themselves, making this an inaccessible choice for low-income families.
However, the waiver doesn’t address this and parents from lower income households most likely would not be able to follow through with that choice.
"So you're not really solving the low income dilemma of school choice for low socioeconomic status kids, which is what the bill is set out to do in the first place, " Townsend said.
Another issue that follows is where parents will receive the money from.
Typically, Texas state money, collected from taxpayers, is directed to public school funding, but now, parents have the opportunity to reallocate the money towards a private school.
"We receive funding through property taxes and so all of the families that live in the district pay property taxes and then those taxes go to the State of Texas and then the State of Texas re-issues those taxes," Principal Jermey Gilbert said. "Some of the school districts in the State of Texas that are not as wealthy receive more dollars towards their schools, where some of the more affluent districts like Highland Park receive less dollars.”
A large portion of the school’s funding is through alumni and parent donations rather than solely property taxes.
“That is where our neighborhood, our community, really steps up with the private donations to the school through Scot's Challenge, Mad for Plaid and all of the different student groups and booster clubs," Gilbert said.
However, if students do transfer to a private or charter school, less community donations will flow in.
Also, state funding depends on school population as well as property tax amounts, so less students means less state funding. This then leads to cutting back on school resources.
On another note, public and private schools function differently. Different rules, different schedules and different goals. Although parents can accept money, it doesn't guarantee a spot in a private or a charter school.
"I don't know that waivers benefit schools period,” Townsend said. “I think it benefits individuals, but I don't know that you need to find a large benefit from school waivers just in general.”
In addition to the struggle with getting into a private school, teachers or other members of the staff are not allowed to write recommendation letters for students applying to private schools. Gilbert shared that it's a conflict of interest for each member of staff.
"A lot of those applications or questions for private schools ask things like ‘what would you predict their success would be at the school’ or ‘what kind of effort does the kid give?’” Gilbert said. “It really puts the teacher in a tough spot and we would prefer to write letters for kids that are aspiring to go to college because it's more in alignment with what our mission is."
Without recommendation letters, students will have a tough time to complete the transition between schools, making the waiver harder to follow through with.
Although the odds are stacked against public schools, Townsend believes the waivers could create some benefits.
"Class sizes being smaller could be an added benefit," she said.
With all of this in mind, some parents are seriously questioning whether they should transfer their child from a public school to a private or charter school.
Christine Danuser, mother of a freshman daughter at Highland Park and a son who attends June Shelton private school, shares her experience as both a private and public school mom.
"We love the Highland Park school system and we felt really comfortable with the level of academics and the level of other opportunities at the school from an extracurricular standpoint," she said. "And for my daughter, she likes the bigger environment. It was a very personal choice and the best fit for her for high school."
In terms of the waiver, Danuser believes that it causes more issues than resolutions. She also emphasizes the importance of making personal decisions.
"I think there are a lot of families in the district that choose, for whatever their personal reasons are, to send their kids to private schools," she said. "I certainly support every parent's right to make the best choice for their kids. That's what we did and I think was important for our family, but I think you also have to see what the impact of those things are on families that may or may not be able to."
If the waiver is passed, Danuser doesn't think that she would send her daughter to a private school. She believes in placing importance on the greater good for all public schools rather than placing her kids above it.
"I think I would be more inclined to look at it as how it impacts the greater good of public schools, not just my two kids," she said. "That sounds lovely, but it's to the detriment of our public school system."