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Texas House committee advances school choice bill, a first in state history | Texas

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www.thecentersquare.com – By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square contributor – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-03 17:22:00

(The Center Square) – The Texas House Committee on Public Education on Thursday passed a school choice bill for the first time in state history.

The committee, chaired by state Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Killeen, passed SB 2, filed by state Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, which passed the Texas Senate and was sent to the House for consideration. The legislation would create an Education Savings Account program to provide taxpayer-funded subsidies for primarily low-income families of roughly $10,000 per student.

Both the Texas Senate and House proposed budgets allocating $1 billion for the program to support roughly 100,000 students, prioritizing low-income and special needs students, The Center Square reported. The savings accounts can be used by parents to send their children to the school of their choice, including private schools.

The committee advanced the bill by a vote of 9-6. It also passed HB 2, a school funding bill filed by Buckley by a vote of 13-2. Buckley filed an education package, including HB 2, HB 3, the House version of SB 2, and HB 4, implementing public school assessment and accountability processes, The Center Square reported

The package was filed after House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, identified expanding public-school funding and creating the state’s first ESA program as legislative priorities. Public education and creating Texas’ first ESA were also identified as emergency legislative items by Gov. Greg Abbot. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick listed school choice as a legislative priority in the Texas Senate, which has passed school choice bills for several years that went nowhere in the Texas House.

Abbott praised the committee vote, saying, “Texas is within reach of the largest school choice program launch in the nation.” Abbott has led the charge to pass the bill after previous efforts failed in the House, including successfully campaigning last year to replace House Republicans who opposed the measure. Abbott’s efforts paid off. Many new House Republicans won their primary, runoff and general elections and were sworn into office in January, all vowing to vote for the bill.

The committee “moved universal school choice one step closer to reaching my desk,” Abbott said. “This achievement was truly a team effort. Chairman Brad Buckley and the members of his committee worked around-the-clock to hear public testimony that lasted for nearly 24 hours. I thank them, as well as Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Speaker Dustin Burrows, and Chairman Brandon Creighton, for their tireless work to empower Texas parents and students by providing school choice. I look forward to its swift passage in the Texas House and signing this bill into law.”

Earlier this year, Burrows said the bill would pass. He has joined Abbott at events promoting it, The Center Square reported.

According to a recent poll, a majority of registered voters surveyed in Texas, 63%, support a proposal to create Texas’ first Education Savings Account program, The Center Square reported.

Support exists across multiple demographics. The majority of Black respondents, 69%, white respondents, 62%, and Latino respondents, 59%, support an ESA program open to all students. Likewise, 78% of Republicans, 64% of Independents and 46% of Democrats support it.

A “Texas Trends” survey launched by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs and Texas Southern University also reported similar support. Of the nearly 2,300 Texans surveyed, 69% said they support an ESA program for all parents statewide, The Center Square reported.

“There is across-the-board support, not only across racial and partisan lines, but among urban, suburban and rural voters,” Jim Granato, dean and professor at the Hobby School, said. “Rural residents, and the legislators who represent them, have traditionally joined with urban Democrats to oppose voucher proposals, but we found 63% of respondents in rural and semi-rural areas support vouchers open to all families, along with 64% of suburban residents and 67% of urban residents.”

The ESA bill and other Buckley measures that passed will next go before the full House for a vote.

The post Texas House committee advances school choice bill, a first in state history | Texas appeared first on www.thecentersquare.com

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‘It means so much,’ Sen. Creighton reflects on impact of passing education savings account bill

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www.kxan.com – John Thomas – 2025-04-26 13:08:00

SUMMARY: Texas Governor Greg Abbott is set to sign a $1 billion education savings account (ESA) program, enabling parents to use public funds for private education. The Texas Senate endorsed Senate Bill 2, which aims to enhance school choice. While supporters highlight benefits for families, critics, including the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus, argue it primarily supports wealthier families and undermines public education. Proponents, like State Sen. Brandon Creighton, assert the investment in public schools will increase. The ESA program will launch in the 2026-27 school year, with lawmakers planning to assess its effectiveness in future sessions.

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Texas DPS continues to find missing children, arrest ‘most wanted’ criminals | Texas

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www.thecentersquare.com – By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square contributor – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-26 12:39:00

(The Center Square) – Texas Department of Public Safety officers continue to find missing children and arrest those on its criminal illegal immigrant most wanted list.

With April being “Child Abuse Prevention Month,” DPS troopers have rescued more than 600 children through its Interdiction for the Protection of Children (IPC) Program, DPS said. IPC officers are trained “to identify victims of exploitation, missing children, crimes against children and high-risk threats against children,” DPS said.

Through Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star, DPS troopers rescued more than 900 children illegally brought into the U.S. in Texas alone under the Biden administration, The Center Square reported.

So far this year, DPS and other agencies have arrested 21 Texas 10 Most Wanted fugitives, sex offenders and others, including six sex offenders and seven criminal illegal immigrants – with $25,000 in rewards being paid for tips that yielded arrests, DPS said.

One recent arrest was of a fugitive on Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrants List, 46-year-old Mexican national Carlos Ortiz. He was arrested after DPS received a tip through Crime Stoppers.

Ortiz was wanted by authorities in Tarrant County since October 2024 on charges of continuous sexual abuse of a young child. He was arrested at an apartment complex in Haltom City by multiple authorities, including special agents from DPS’ Criminal Investigations Division, Haltom City Police and U.S. Marshals North Texas Fugitive Task Force.

Since 2008, Ortiz had been arrested in Tarrant County for assault causing bodily injury to a family member and driving while intoxicated, according to DPS records.

Another fugitive arrested on Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrants List was 25-year-old Honduran national Anderson Ronaldo Reyes Giron. He was arrested in north central Austin and wanted by authorities in Travis County since February for deadly conduct (discharging a firearm) and in Williamson County since March on property theft charges.

He was first arrested under the Trump administration in January 2017 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection “for alien removal.” By August 2024, he was arrested by the Austin Police Department officers for deadly conduct (discharging a firearm) and subsequently bonded out of jail, according to DPS records.

Through the governor’s Public Safety Office, taxpayer money is allocated to Texas Crime Stoppers to offer cash rewards to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest of one of Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders or Criminal Illegal Immigrants. To be eligible for cash rewards, tipsters must provide information to authorities by calling the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477), submitting a tip through DPS website or Facebook page.

“All tips are anonymous – regardless of how they are submitted – and tipsters will be provided a tip number instead of using a name,” DPS says.

As offenders are arrested and come off of the lists, others are added.

Two recent additions include U.S. citizens, Rondarrius Evans, 21, of New Boston, to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List and Rodolfo Martinez Jr., 42, to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Sex Offenders List.

Evans is wanted by authorities in Bowie County since last August on two capital murder charges and drug charges. Martinez Jr. is wanted in Harris County since last November for indecency with a child by sexual contact.

Texas Crime Stoppers is offering cash rewards for tips that lead to their arrests.

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El Campo family’s beloved pet pig, Rosie, shot and killed in broad daylight

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www.youtube.com – KPRC 2 Click2Houston – 2025-04-25 22:14:00

SUMMARY: An El Campo family is seeking justice after their pet pig, Rosie, was shot and killed in broad daylight on April 12. Rosie, a 600-pound pet raised like family, was shot while roaming near her home. Neighbor Joe Solless witnessed a white truck firing shots at Rosie, who was struck by three bullets and bled out. The motive remains unclear, but the Wharton County Sheriff’s Office has opened an investigation. Rosie was deeply loved, and her death has left the family devastated, demanding accountability for what they describe as a malicious act, not hunting.

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An El Campo family is seeking answers after their beloved pet pig, Rosie, was shot and killed in broad daylight at their home off FM 441.

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