Sherrie Matula sent me the following from a Texas Freedom Network email. The Senate Committee on Education will be holding a hearing in Houston on September 6 (PDF agenda here) at the University of Houston Hilton. The topic is "school choice", which is to say vouchers.
The hearing will include invited testimony from more than a half-dozen supporters of voucher schemes. Even Leininger’s Texas Public Policy Foundation has been invited to send a representative to speak! Only two voucher opponents - including TFN President Kathy Miller - will have the opportunity to explain why voucher schemes would devastate public education in Texas.After invited guests have testified, the Education Committee will hear testimony from the general public. Don’t allow the voucher lobby to dominate the hearing. Come to the hearing to support strong neighborhood public schools and oppose schemes - like private school vouchers - that threaten them.
Witness cards at the hearing will be available for all who want to speak during the public testimony period. The committee will hear testimony in the order in which speakers submit the completed witness cards. The hearing begins at 12:30 p.m., Wednesday (Sept. 6) at the University of Houston Hilton (Shamrock Room, Suite 261B). Public testimony will probably begin around mid-afternoon. The UH Hilton is located at 4800 Calhoun Street in Houston (713-741-2447).
Notice it is also a workday (and work time) for educators. Funny how legislators always claim to have received teacher input when a time was not allowed for it. When the teachers showed up last year at the Capitol to give input they were quickly chided for leaving the classroom. Hmmmm. Some things never change.
Posted by: sabestian on September 5, 2006 8:19 AM