ATPE Governmental Relations Director Monty Exter has the following statement on passage of the Raney amendment, which stripped private school vouchers from HB 1:

“The Texas public education community is grateful to Rep. Raney and his colleagues for their determination to stand strong with their constituents and uphold their constitutional duty to provide a free public education for Texas children. What they did was not easy. We know they have been the focus of untold political pressure to switch their votes on vouchers.

“We are hopeful the governor and voucher proponents recognize that the unity of the public education community on this issue cannot be broken. It is past time to stop wasting taxpayer money on special sessions about vouchers and instead focus on supporting our Texas public school students and educators by raising the Basic Allotment and increasing salaries to improve teacher recruitment and retention.

“The Texas public education community and our legislative allies stand together, whether during the umpteenth special session or at the ballot box in March.”

About the Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE)
Founded in 1980, ATPE is the leading educators’ association in Texas with approximately 90,000 members statewide. With its strong collaborative philosophy, ATPE speaks for classroom teachers, administrators, and future, retired, and para-educators and works to create better opportunities for Texas’ more than five million public school students. | atpe.org