By Mike Killalea, NSD president
Texas Senate candidate Dr Merrie Fox is committed to saving Texas public education, and to bringing much-needed transparency to the state Senate seat for District 25, representing the North Shore.
Dr Fox, a distinguished retired educator discussed the importance of rescuing Texas public education and more at the Sept 21 Meet & Greet of the North Shore Democrats of Travis County in Lago Vista.
Come see Merrie on Monday, October 21, at Lago Vista Brewing.
The invisible Sen Campbell
As an educator, Fox tried numerous times to meet with the current state Senator, Donna Campbell, all to no avail.
“I could not reach her in person, by phone, email, with an appointment or not,” said Merrie Fox. “That was frustrating to me because she’s a public servant. I’ve heard over and over that this is typical.”
Public education is Fox’s priority 1
Fox’s number one priority is public education.
“I believe it is the foundation of our democracy, and the backbone of our communities,” she said to cheers and applause.
Dr Merrie Fox, who has lived in the Hill Country for some 40 years, stressed that public education has been under attack for a long time. She noted that the last raise for educators was in 2019. The basic allotment was also increased.
“That raise was so appreciated,” she said, adding that the increase in allotment was very helpful.
“However, prior to that, it had been years before there had been funding,” she pointed out.
And the 2019 increase was five years ago, and pre-Pandemic. With this miserly funding, schools must fight higher prices, keep the lights on, and buy paper and other supplies.
“So they’re struggling.”
$2.6 billion taxpayer dollars for private schools? No way
Vouchers are fiscally irresponsible. The most recently bill in the Legislature would have provided out of taxpayer dollars $8,000 for each child attending private school.
That compares to $6,000 per child in public schools.
Currently, 329,000 Texas students attend private schools (vs about $5.5 million in public schools during 2022-2023, according to Texas Education Agency).
Do the math: at $8,000 per student, the state would fork out a cool $2.6 BILLION.
Why are public schools paid $2,000 per year less per kid? Public school kids have less value? Private school kids need another $2,000 teaching time? Please educate us, Republicans.
Abbott gets $10M from out-of-state private-school advocate
Well, the $10 million donated to Greg Abbott by an out-of-state private school advocate could have had a just tiny impact – maybe more than tiny.
Gee, why would this person push so hard for vouchers in Texas? Profit! Subsidize private education – and at a level abovebri public school funding – and the profits will fatten the private-school kitty. All that public money – just there for the taking. Just bribe … oops, “donate to” … greedy GOP politicians.
Where’s the accountability, Abbott?
And you know what? These schools have virtually no accountability, Fox warns.
“You don’t have to account to the state for curriculum, for outcomes, for spending – nothing,” said the seasoned educator.
Vote for Dr Merrie Fox for Texas Senate, District 25.
https://tea.texas.gov/reports-and-data/school-performance/accountability-research/enroll-2022-23.pdf
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