Sen. Nichols is worried that SB 2 would create a “new form of segregation,” one that is based on students’ income and ability.
CHEROKEE COUNTY, Texas — State Sen. Robert Nichols was the only Republican senator to vote against the bill that would give families education savings accounts to use for private school and homeschooling costs.
On Wednesday, Senate Bill 2, a piece of legislation that seeks to establish school vouchers in Texas, was passed in 19-12 vote. If it went into effect, SB 2 would allow families to receive $10,000 a year per student in public taxpayer dollars to provide for their children’s tuition at an accredited private school as well as other expenses like textbooks, transportation and therapy, according to the Texas Tribune.
The bill would give $11,500 per student for children with disabilities and give at least $2,000 a year per students in homeschooling families. The funds would be held in state-managed education savings accounts, the Tribune said.
In a statement published in the Senate Journal, Nichols said he disagrees with using taxpayer dollars for private school education. While the bill seeks to be inclusive, Nichols says that SB 2 just gives the illusion of parents having a choice, saying the private school would be the real decision maker.
If these saving accounts don’t cover the whole cost related to the schooling, he noted that parents would also have to pay for school supplies, transportation, and uniforms.
“Over 62% of children currently in public schools come from socioeconomically disadvantaged families and many live paycheck to paycheck. They don’t have an extra $9,000 in their household budget. That’s not really a choice,” Nichols said.
Nichols believes this bill would cause students of different abilities and those with discipline to possibly be excluded by private schools.
He questioned the constitutionality of the proposal, saying it conflicts with both the state and U.S. constitutions by giving funding to religious schools. He pointed out that if the state wants to fund religious schools, it cannot discriminate against any specific religions.
Another issue that Nichols was that the bill would hurt small, rural schools like those that are in the 18 counties he represents. He said because schools are funded based on daily attendance, every student that leaves will impact the school’s income.
“While the school will have the same expenses, there will be less funding to pay for them. A large school is scalable. If they lose 5 percent of their students, they can scale down the number of classrooms. Small schools don’t have that luxury,” Nichols said.
He added that the staff at small schools know their students well, such as who is behind and those who are having trouble at home.
Nichols also worries that SB 2 would create a “new form of segregation,” one that is based on students’ income and ability.
“Many public schools serve as a safety net for those that struggle to afford anything else. The number of students who require more resources and thus are more expensive to teach continues to rise in public schools,” Nichols said. “The ratio of socioeconomically disadvantaged, non-English speaking, and special education students to general education students continues to increase in our public schools.”
He said this new form of segregation will be “separate and inherently unequal.”
“As a fiscal conservative and a believer in the value of public schools, I cannot in good conscience vote for this bill. It is not fair to the children and parents of Texas, has little oversight of how the public funds are spent, creates constitutional questions about separation of church and state, hurts public schools, leads to class segregation, and is not fiscally conservative,” Nichols said.
Nichols represents all of Anderson, Angelina, Cherokee, Hardin, Henderson, Houston, Jasper, Liberty, Nacogdoches, Newton, Orange, Polk, Sabine, San Augustine, Shelby, Trinity, and Tyler counties, and a portion of Jefferson County.
Now that bill passed in the Senate, it has headed to the Texas House of Representatives for a future vote.
