Member-only story
When There’s No Choice: What Vouchers Really Mean for Rural Schools
Austin politicians are offering rural families a devil’s bargain: $2,000 to homeschool or watch their public schools slowly die. But with the voucher bill hanging by a thread in the Legislature, Panhandle communities still have time to fight for their future before predatory virtual schools swoop in to fill the void.
The Texas Legislature is about to make families in the Panhandle an offer they can’t afford to refuse: $2,000 to homeschool their children. It’s not enough money to build an actual homeschool program. It’s not enough to replace what these families will lose when their public schools start cutting teachers and programs. But for families struggling to make ends meet, it might be enough to make them try.
What comes next is predictable because we’ve seen it happen elsewhere. Into the void will rush for-profit virtual schools, promising everything and delivering almost nothing. The data is damning: virtual charter schools have a 53% graduation rate compared to our region’s average of 92%. Students in full-time virtual programs lose 1–2 years of learning. And these are just the averages —…
