Simpson will oppose vouchers
State representative David Simpson (R-Longview) is a politician who is hard to categorize. He is totally independent and doesn’t care what others think of him. Nor does he shrink from conflict with the likes of TPPF and Michael Quinn Sullivan.
From the Longview News-Journal:
Longview’s state lawmaker said Tuesday that he is not in favor of a voucher system for public schools.
Republican Rep. David Simpson was questioned repeatedly by Longview school board members about his stance on a voucher system that could pull students from public schools and see them in private institutions.
Trustee Troy Simmons was the most pointed in his questioning during Monday night’s meeting.
“Would you and the group (of newly-elected legislators) publicly state that you aren’t in favor of vouchers and privatizing public education?” Simmons asked.
“I’m opposed to vouchers,” Simpson said to the school board for about the third time Monday night. “I’m in favor of public money going to public purposes.”
Vouchers are expected to be a key issue before state legislators during the 83rd legislative session that starts in January.
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Simpson would be a formidable opponent if a voucher bill were to reach the House floor. He is a tenacious adversary, as Senfronia Thompson learned last session, when he opposed her puppy-mill bill, and he has a following in the House, especially among younger members. Simpson also opposes tax credits for home schoolers, even though Simpson and his wife home school their own children.
Readers will no doubt remember the epic battles last session over Simpson’s bill to halt intrusive searches by TSA personnel at airports. It precipitated a showdown between Simpson and the U.S. attorney in San Antonio, who threatened to shut down air travel in Texas if Simpson tried to pass his bill. I thought the bill was looney, but today’s HuffingtonPost carries an AP story that begins, “The federal government is quietly removing full-body X-ray scanners from seven major airports and replacing them with a different type of machine that produces a cartoon-like outline instead of the naked images that have been compared to a virtual strip search.”
Jurassic Park says:
Love him or hate him, you got to love this guy.
And Paul, this means Simpson is formidable even when he does something you don’t like.
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Bell of the ball says:
Even if you disagree with his stance on some issues, you gotta respect the guy. I thought his position on alleged “TSA groping” was out in left (or right, as the case may be) field, but if he works as hard to protect public schools, then he’s all right in my book.
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paulburka Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 12:41 pm
I respect Mr. Simpson. He is fearless and he is independent, and Dan Patrick will not be able to bully him.
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Gabby Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 5:03 pm
And that is good enough for me.
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Jim Piths says:
Look at you, Paul. How predictably cute. His principle takes him to a position you agree with and you suddenly swoon. Methinks if you are expecting a right-wing crusader against TPPF and MQS, you’ll be sorely disappointed, though.
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paulburka Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 12:53 pm
As I said, Mr. Simpson is hard to categorize. He is sincere. That is what makes him so dangerous.
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Anonymous Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 3:02 pm
JP–you’re in for a surprise this session. People are sick of their shit.
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JohnBernardBooks says:
He opposed puppies, how can anyone be so cruel?
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Anonymous says:
Is this the guy that Simpson is going to support for Speaker?
http://texasconservativepolitics.blogspot.com/
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Kenneth D. Franks says:
This is good news for public education and I hope he can influence some of his fellow legislators to follow suit.
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Bevo's Brain says:
A lot of House Members had their fill of his shenanigans last session, he might not be able to get away with as much this time as people think.
Secessionist Petition Signers = Simpson Supporters. Mucho Muy Loco.
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Alan says:
Hopefully the Lege has seen what a joke vouchers have become in Louisiana (“entrepreneurs” opening schools for the sole purpose of getting free state money; church schools teaching that humans and dinosaurs coexisted).
I haven’t heard Rick Perry say a lot about vouchers and I get the impression that they’re not high on his list of priorities; come January he will be dealing with such emergencies as getting the unemployed to pee in a cup.
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WURSPH Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 9:05 pm
You do not seem to understand that vouchers in Texas are intended to make possible here just what is happening in Louisiana.
The proponents of vouchers have two primary purposes:
* To make money for people who set up new private schools or provide “virtual education” thru computers, etc.
* To make it easier for people to teach that humans coexisted with dinosaurs and promote their religious views
All at the expense of the taxpayers.
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Blue Dogs says:
I’m kinda not a big fan of school vouchers.
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Anonymous says:
I think you have enough votes in the Senate to pass a voucher (excuse me, a liberty credit) bill, but I’m not sure in the house. It may be seen as a cheap way, literally, to address school financing as a result of the lawsuit. It’ll be about efficiency. And choice, and allowing kids to not have to go to a failing school. The God given right to drive across town, go to school with a bunch of kids you don’t know and won’t know next year, watch a close circuit television instead of a live teacher (how exciting!), and save me tens of dollars every year on my property tax bill.
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John Johnson says:
Shouldn’t this thread title read “Simpson says he will oppose vouchers”?
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WURSPH says:
But will Simpson oppose some sort of public aid to parents who choose to home school? He could argue that is a public purpose. The Catholics want to indirectly fund vouchers with some sort of indirect system. Home schoolers could argue that they are not some private/church group but simply parents acting as teachers to save the local district from that cost….perhaps a little property tax relief of just send them a check for $5,000.
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Alan Reply:
November 27th, 2012 at 9:58 pm
Send them a check? I thought Republicans didn’t believe in giving “gifts” to people.
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rw says:
Tell that to the people of DC, where parents rush to apply and there is a lottery for the voucher schools.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/parents-rush-to-apply-for-dc-private-school-vouchers/2011/06/25/AG4Ju9kH_story.html
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Anonymous says:
Simpson is quoted in the linked article: “Our Constitution says in Article 7 that the diffusion of knowledge is essential to the preservation of individual liberties. It says the Legislature shall make a suitable, proficient system of free public schools.”
That is flat wrong. The word is “efficient,” not “proficient.”
I doubt if more than 30 percent of the students who EVER attended Texas public schools are today “proficient” in most of the subjects teachers tried to get them to master.
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JohnBernardBooks says:
It’s time for voucher’s and time for teacher unions to go. I love it.
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anyomouse Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 11:52 am
JBB,
Tell us your definition of a teacher union.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 2:20 pm
The local chapter of the AFL-CIO.
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Jim Sirbasku says:
JBB, it’s time for grammar skool
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John Johnson Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 11:19 am
Km on, Jim, u undirstand wat he iz zaing. No grammar police here, plz.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 2:22 pm
JJ when dems lose a discussion they immediately go for spelling errors its all they got.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 5:05 pm
If a spellin error on a blog bothers you but being $16,000,000,000,000.00 in debt doesn’t you probably won’t like vouchers.
Anonymous says:
Vouchers are a lame idea. Giving public money to private schools who aren’t accountable.
A lot of folks on the right support vouchers as the only way to reform education, but what it really is, is a cop out. They don’t want to support community schools.
As for home schooling, you have a right, but I would never hire anyone who was homeschooled, mostly because they don’t have social intelligence.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
November 29th, 2012 at 12:28 pm
“As for home schooling, you have a right, but I would never hire anyone who was homeschooled, mostly because they don’t have social intelligence”
the ignorance here is papable
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Blue Dogs says:
Burka, school vouchers could be decided pretty early in the session coming up.
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homeskool says:
Imagine what would happen if the government wrote checks to people who keep their kids out of school, i.e. giving a voucher for home schoolers. One of two consequences would follow
1. Homeschoolers would have to take standardized testing to prove accountability or
2. Neglectful/abusive parents would keep kids home and not learning to get the voucher checks.
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Leslie Knope says:
I agree with homeskool, #2 could definitely happen in this state. I’m also not a fan of the elitist grammar police, but I do find it funny that JBB is complaning about teachers unions and can’t properly construct a sentence. Oh the irony, it burns! Vouchers aren’t the absolute worst thing that could come out of the most conservative legislature we’ve had in a while, but they aren’t great for little Texans either. Also, homeschooling is not great either, just like anonymous at 10:42, serious lack of social intelligence. To that, Real Education by Charles Murray, read it!
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 3:08 pm
It’s a blog, where I enjoy making fun of liberals. Deal with it.
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Anonymous says:
I can’t wait for a true voucher bill to go into law. The collapse of rural school districts like Longview ISD will be very quick, and really funny. But wait, there’s more. Because bonds have been issued for the soon to be boarded up school buildings, some financial institutions will take it in the shorts. Awesome. The reason a DC voucher program can work is that its 12k a year, and their crappy schools still exist as a fall back. It is on top of the crappy public school system. If you do what you’re talking about here, its a one to one dollar replacement.
This is all like watching a slow car crash. It’ll be a disaster, and all on Perry’s watch. Funny.
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Anonymous Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 3:44 pm
Longview is not a rural school district.
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Anonymous Reply:
November 29th, 2012 at 7:07 am
I’m sure a city of merely 80,0000-plus IS rural to most of the people posting on here. And the district doesn’t take in the entire city. There are two other districts called Pine Tree and Spring Hill within the city.
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Anonymous says:
And can we do police and fire department vouchers also? Its not like I’ve had a fire at my house like, ever. What am I paying for? The possibility of a fire. Gee wizz. I’ll take my chances. With my tens of dollars of saved tax dollars, i’ll hire a private detective who can also work a fire hose if push came to shove. Public safety vouchers, awesome.
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JohnBernardBooks says:
Wow you teachers are afraid of vouchers? Why aren’t you good enough to have school districts want you?
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Bevo's Brain says:
There are 16 “No” votes on vouchers in the Senate.
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Texian Politico says:
Ok, no one else has done it, so I did. It seems that Cruz being an Hispanic helped him a pretty good deal in TX over Romney in Hispanic areas. They each got about the same percentage of the vote statewide (57%), but let’s look at large heavily Hispanic counties in Texas -
El Paso – Romney 33% Cruz 36%
Bexas (San Antonio) Romney 47% Cruz 46%
Harris (Houston) Romney 49% Cruz 50%
Cameron (Brownsville) Romney 33% Cruz 39%
Nueces (Corpus Christi) Romney 51% Cruz 51%
Hidalgo (McAllen) Romney 29% Cruz 31%
In that six county sample Cruz was on average up two points on Romney – 42.2% to 40.3%. Two points is what about what Obama won by over Romney nationwide.
Cruz ran better in those areas than Romney, but he was down a few points in big conservative white counties like Collin and Montgomery when compared to Romney. I don’t know how that’s explained except by racism. It does seem to show that a certain segment of the voters on each side are voting for or against a surname.
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Mainstream Reply:
December 11th, 2012 at 12:28 pm
Suburban Republican collar counties contain a slice of moderate GOP voters who preferred Dewhurst, support public education, and may have thought that Cruz was an extremist. That seems the more likely explanation to me of the Cruz/Romney totals in Collin and Montgomery. The absence of support based on surname for Cruz in Corpus Christi and San Antonio is worth noting.
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Kenneth D. Franks says:
I oppose school vouchers, toll roads, and also the privatizing of jails, and or prisons. There are simply some things that should not be privatized though Texas has moved in that direction during Perry’s long tenure and under Republican dominated legislatures. There was very strong public opposition to the Trans-Texas Corridor. There is an increasing opposition to private prisons and I expect many Republicans though maybe not a majority of elected legislators, will oppose vouchers as they want public money to go to public schools as it should.
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JohnBernardBooks says:
Whoa what happened? Usually the media bashes Texas for being backward toothless hicks and suddenly Texas has the 4th highest grad rates in the US.
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John Johnson Reply:
November 29th, 2012 at 8:44 am
That announcement got my attention as well, JBB. Not sure whether to applaud Texas or bemoan the fact that the rest of the U.S. must really be screwed up.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
November 29th, 2012 at 9:21 am
its the teacher union trying to protect bad teachers. Most graduates cannot read or write as most liberal democrats point out that I’m a good example.
But when vouchers are brought up suddenly Texas is the creme de la creme as they rally around to support the teacher union who protects bad teachers.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
November 29th, 2012 at 9:26 am
oops I forgot to put a spellin error in my post make that cream de la cream.
paulburka Reply:
November 29th, 2012 at 9:30 am
It’s creme de la creme, JBB.
Jed Reply:
November 29th, 2012 at 9:41 am
graduation rate is not a measure of anything other than what percentage you give diplomas to.
not only can this result be manipulated by lowering standards, but i suspect the data are also manipulated by factoring out some of the drop outs.
are we also #4 (lowest) in drop outs, all of a sudden? that would get my attention.
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Jed Reply:
November 29th, 2012 at 12:53 pm
having now looked at the article, it says exactly what i suggested above. what it doesn’t do is mention the recent story out of el paso on manipulating testing data in exactly the same way. the two seem relevant to each other, not sure why it isn’t mentioned.
Jed says:
just typed out a reply, but it didn’t stick because i used my other email address.
now that you’ve returned, burka, can you please clarify whether i’ve been banned or whether there is just a glitch?
thanks.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
November 29th, 2012 at 4:13 pm
Robert Morrow banned you get with him.
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Blue Dogs says:
Books, TX Education Commissioner Michael Williams will also push for changes to academic standards regarding minority students in failing public schools.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
November 30th, 2012 at 11:48 am
I hope so they are dragging Texas students and schools down with them. If you aren’t here legally, don’t want to learn or care more about your gang affiliation than graduation, I say kick ‘em out. Public schools on the tax payer’s dime is a priviledge not a right.
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Anon says:
Ok so several R reps have alreafy said No to vouchers BEFORE Simpson…,,,so what’s the story here?
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City Slicker says:
Need to clean up these sham charter schools first. Remember how they were going to revolutionize education? With the exception of a few, most are warehousing napping kids and collecting checks for their non-profits.
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