Dallas ISD teachers to rally against school vouchers in Austin

    DALLAS, Texas (KTVT) -- This week, students in the Dallas Independent School District are on spring break while one of the district's largest teachers' unions is heading to Austin to appeal directly to state lawmakers about school vouchers.

NEA-Dallas, the National Education Association-Dallas, plans to bus a group of educators to the Texas Capitol to join hundreds of others in rallying against school choice vouchers.

With strong support from Gov. Greg Abbott, the school choice bill is making its way through the legislature and would give families up to $10,000 to move their child to a private school.

"As a public educator, we are against it," said Sheila Walker, the president of NEA-Dallas. "The money needs to stay with public education. As it is now, we haven't had a raise in the amount of money that the state gives to the schools. I think we're at $6,160 per student. But he's proposing to give $10,000 to the private sector. So we're still short. Short of getting money for public education."

NEA-Dallas said that money should first go to public school districts, many of which struggle with staffing shortages and budget deficits.

"It's going to be kind of scary for educators," Walker said. "We saw some schools closing and parents are upset about the schools closing. But right now, we don't know what we can do if we keep operating in a deficit. Where is education going to go from there?"

NEA-Dallas said they also plan to meet directly with members of the education committee on Monday and work to raise awareness among parents in North Texas.