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Charles Butt surrenders on school vouchers
Over decades, H-E-B Chairman Charles Butt has spent hundreds of millions bolstering Texas public education. During that time, he has spent huge to oppose private school vouchers, and he has bankrolled education groups lobbying against the bills in the Legislature.
But this year, with Gov. Greg Abbott pushing harder than ever before for a voucher bill and six key races headed to overtime elections, Butt turned off the tap.
The grocery giant's political group reported more than $10 million unspent leading up to last week's runoffs, when enough Abbott-supported candidates won to secure a presumptive majority to pass his plan to fund private schools with public funds.
Why? And what does it mean going forward for Texas public education?
Bill Miller, a founder at the HillCo Partners lobbying firm who represents H-E-B and Butt's education group Raise Your Hand Texas, said Butt couldn't keep up with "unprecedented" contributions on the other side but he would continue to advocate for Texas kids.
"He's committed to public education — let's not even call it public — he's a supporter of education," said Miller, who responded to requests for comment made to Butt's various nonprofits and his political group.
"He's not backing off education," Miller went on, referencing vouchers, which would give families state dollars to spend on private school tuition and other educational expenses. "They're going to take the money, and parents are going to take the money and do what they want. But we're going to be supportive of education, no matter what."
 | Edward McKinley, state government reporter |
Who's up, who's down
Up: Big alligator.
I don't know about you, dear reader, but I am a simple man. When I see an article about a big alligator, I read it. In this one, a small Texas town had to get creative to figure out how to get the big critter out of a roadside ditch.
Down: Texas school funding.
At least since Gov. Greg Abbott was elected in 2014. Newly released data from the Texas Education Agency shows inflation-adjusted per-student funding for the state's public schools has decreased since 2014, belying Abbott's common refrain that he has boosted school funds as the state's chief executive.
What do you think? Hit reply and let me know.
What else is going on in Texas
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Pick of the day
Photo by: Eduardo Verdugo/Associated Press
Texas and other U.S. border states have much at stake in how Claudia Sheinbaum, newly elected as Mexico's first woman president in a landslide, uses her mandate. Sheinbaum, 61, took nearly 60 percent of votes in Sunday's three-way contest. The ruling Morena party will control two thirds of both chambers of the national congress and 24 of Mexico's 32 governorships. What Sheinbaum does with that majority will define Mexico's economic policy, including the treatment of private investment in key sectors such as energy.
What else I'm reading
New York Magazine: The Love Machine Love Is Blind creator Chris Coelen drops a new group of singles into his experiment — and wrestles with the lawsuits against the show.
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