Texas Will Pass Education Savings Accounts

Written By: Mandy Drogin

Moms and Dads,

As we’re preparing to finally pass Education Savings Accounts later in the year, opponents to empowering parents are continuing to mislead Texans. Great news though… we have the facts they don’t want us, the parents, or the public to know!

What am I specifically referring to in today’s email of “The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?”  Well, a large organization that fights against us parents at every turn recently released a piece on Career and Technical Education (CTE). 

I’ll spare you some time and give you the summary of this report.  Essentially, they claim our public school system is where CTE options belong – not with any other certified career training centers or colleges. “We’ve been doing such a great job already. Give public schools more money.” 

Of course, they don’t provide much backup to the “we’ve been doing such a great job already” part, because unfortunately, the Educrat Establishment standing between parents and accessing the best education for their child don’t like to look at outcomes – you know, how successful our children and young Texans are in mastering whatever subject is being taught.

So, let’s take a look at the numbers, shall we?  After all, us taxpayers are paying for these CTE programs.

Right now, Texas already gives public schools $4 billion for CTE. Yes, $4 billion. $4,000,000,000.  

What this report states is “Public school districts across the state are offering robust CTE opportunities, that are continuously reimagined to meet local workforce demands.”

Are they really?

Short answer: No, not really and not many. 

Longer answer: 

Some districts, a small number of our over 1,200 public ISDs, are offering several great CTE programs.  Great for those few districts and the kids who live there!  I sincerely mean that.  We LOVE great ISDs that are meeting the needs of students and local and Texas workforce demands.

But, across our great state, the entire system is catastrophically failing to provide CTE that’s useful or in line with industry demand. And, almost as concerning a failing to provide quality CTE programs, wasting hardworking taxpayer dollars.

Why do I say this?  Well, in 2019, the most recent year we have truly accurate data for and its pre-pandemic numbers, a little over 82,000 students graduated high school with a completed CTE program. Given that we graduated over 355,000 kids out of public schools in 2019, that doesn’t sound so terrible, right?

Here’s the slight of hand being used by the Educrats… the classification of CTE can be a problem and looking at a broad number is a problem.  The majority of those 82,000 kids received certifications or degrees in very low-paying or low-demand fields, such as Floriculture or graphic design. Let me be clear – I’m not knocking either of these professions, what I am saying is that we have significant workforces gaps in high-paying fields, and too many of our CTE programs are set up to serve as non-professional “electives” rather than truly preparing Texas high schoolers to enter the workforce immediately upon graduation.

Here’s a fantastic video that explains how and ESA can support students looking to pursue a high-quality field that is not being offered by their government assigned school.

Very few students completed CTE programs that would launch them into the world able to make a living for themselves. Additionally, very few programs meet the needs of our growing state in professions such as electricity, plumbing, HVAC, or energy—high paying jobs right out the gate.  

In case you were unaware, by 2030 we are projected to be short 4,500 HVAC techs; 10,000 electricians and 6,000 plumbers.

Other great options that young Texans could enter right out of high school include:

It must be because the students aren’t interested, right?

Wrong. Most public schools—over 96% in the case of Energy—don’t offer CTE program in the above categories, despite there being tens of thousands of job openings and incredibly high industry demand.

Texas is the Energy Capitol of the US, yet, this industry is importing workers from other states and even other nations to fulfill our own demand. Texans are being left behind because our bureaucracy is set up to force ISDs to opt in, rather than allowing a parent to help their child pursue a field outside of the traditional push for kids to go directly to college for 4 years.  

Still not sold?  Just look at the map of which districts even offer Energy CTE:

So where are our CTE programs focused on?

Health science, business, and science and technology—all things that need additional degrees and certificates instead of being ready to go right out the gate. 

Occupations that Health Care CTE could lead into:

So, that $4 billion is getting us—oh right, more school — regardless of whether you want or need to enter the workforce or higher ed. More money for public education and their unions.  More control over our kids rather than allowing kids to pursue the path of high paying employment right out of high school.

But is this $4 Billion setting kids up for success?

Nope, not really. 

Do we really want to write a blank check for a program that so completely fails to deliver on its promises?

No, of course not. Instead, we should empower parents with Education Savings Accounts so that parents can seek out and utilize the best programs, which would include the ability for students to utilize and ESA at any partnering colleges or other professional programs students are seeking?  Rather than simply relying on the ISD to select a limited number of program offerings that may or may not meet market demands.

To learn more or to get involved, please visit txparentsmatter.com.