City of Socorro Council Members unanimously reject Mayor’s “School Choice” proclamation

This evening’s Socorro City Council Meeting heard several community members speak against Mayor Elia Garcia’s school choice proclamation. A few of the many reasons against ranged from unfair funding creating additional tax burdens on the citizens of Socorro to lack of due process rights for students and families and lack of services to students with special needs.

No one spoke in support of school choice, further solidifying the clear need and support of the Texas State Board of Education’s policy passed last week - public hearings and public comment allowing community members a voice in how their taxpayer dollars are used.

​My public comment:

Mayor Garcia, City Council of Socorro,
Thank you for the opportunity to address you this evening.

In respect to the School Choice proclamation, I would like to share some public information with you - the source of this data is the Texas Education Agency, where IDEA self reports:

1) Access to the highest quality education / high quality teaching professionals

Charters are not required to employ certified teachers. IDEA Rio Vista does not list any classroom teachers on their website, therefore parents cannot verify certifications.

IDEA teachers hold an average of 2 years of classroom experience.

Area public schools employ only certified teachers who average 13 years of classroom experience

Area public schools average class size =  17 students

IDEA average class size = 29 students

2) Preparing successful adults

IDEA graduates a significantly lower number of students than public schools. In 2016, IDEA graduated only 507 students, state-wide, leaving many to question where the remaining high school students graduated - or if the are high school dropouts.

IDEA requires their high school seniors to be accepted to college or university, or they do not graduate. This is a result of ‘No Due Process’ rights for students (or teachers for that matter). Students are simply removed from IDEA rosters, leaving families to figure it out with no support.

30% of IDEA graduates require remedial courses in their first semester of college.

3) Economic diversity, vitality and community vibrancy

Studies from Harvard and Princeton, 2017, illustrate that Texas charters have a negative impact on earnings

School Choice is code for the privatization of public education.

There are no democratically elected trustees for your constituents to question, hold, accountable, or have any voice in their child’s education.

IDEA charters received $401M for the current school year.

Students at Sanchez MS are funded at $6,600/each

Students at IDEA Rio Vista are funded at $9,600/each

Public education is responsible to equally serve the diverse needs of ALL students in any and every community.

The only thing public about IDEA is the fact that they receive taxpayer dollars - clearly at the expense of all students in the community.
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I strongly urge the City Counsil of Socorro to reject this false choice.