Here are some facts… The Harsh Reality of ESAs and Government-Regulated School Choice Supporters of HB3 and ESAs claim they will expand school choice, create competition, and allow students access to better education. But what they fail to acknowledge is that government-regulated school choice—no matter how it is structured—will always be controlled by government standards, assessments, and data collection. The groundwork for this control has already been laid through a series of federal and state laws that tie education funding, student assessments, and data collection to a Common Core-aligned system. Once ESA funds enter private schools, those schools will be forced to comply with the same data-driven bureaucracy that has already overtaken public education. 1. Federal Laws Have Locked in a System of Control Over Education Over the past two decades, a web of federal laws has been put in place to control education through standards, testing, and data collection: •The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (2015) – Replaced No Child Left Behind but locked in Common Core-aligned College and Career Readiness (CCR) standards by requiring states to implement standardized assessments that align with federal accountability measures. •The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) (2018) – Ensures that all Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs align with federally approved standards tied to workforce tracking and data collection. •The Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA) (2002) & Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) Grant Program – Created a massive student data collection system where every student’s academic and behavioral data is tracked from Pre-K through college and into the workforce. •The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (2004, 2015 Revisions) – Mandates data tracking for all students with disabilities, ensuring their information is stored in federally funded databases. These laws mean that any school receiving government-regulated funds—whether public, private, or charter—will be required to adhere to these federal data-collection and assessment policies. 2. Texas Has Already Aligned with This System At the state level, Texas has fully aligned itself with federal College and Career Readiness standards through: •Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) – TEKS standards are aligned with the same College and Career Readiness (CCR) framework as Common Core. While Texas technically rejected Common Core, it still incorporated the same standards through TEKS revisions. •House Bill 3 (2019, not the current ESA bill) – Increased state control over school accountability through standardized testing and tied funding incentives to College and Career Readiness outcomes. •Texas Student Data Systems (TSDS) – The state’s data collection program, which feeds into national databases that track student performance, career pathways, and behavioral data. 3. ESAs Will Force Private Schools to Follow the Same Standards Supporters of ESAs claim they will allow parents to choose better schools for their children. But here’s the ugly truth: •Any school that accepts ESA funds will have to be state-approved, meaning it will be forced to adhere to TEKS-aligned curriculum standards—which are already tied to federal data collection mandates. •ESA students will likely have to participate in state-mandated assessments, just like public school students. These assessments are aligned with College and Career Readiness standards that dictate what is taught in the classroom. •The state will regulate private and homeschool education through ESAs, just as it does public schools. The moment a private institution accepts government money, it becomes subject to government oversight. This means ESA programs will not create real school choice—they will simply expand the same government-controlled system into the private education sector.

BUYER BEWARE- Texans of all political backgrounds are not buying the education transformation Abbott / Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), Americans for Prosperity (AFP) and the American Federation of Children (AFC) pushing! HB 2 (Education Funding), HB 3 (Government-Regulated School Choice), and HB 4 (Accountability & Assessment System)—are advancing under the guise of “education reform”. However, when examined together, these bills create a coordinated framework that aligns Texas education policy with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), passed in 2016. Rather than empowering parents and protecting local control, these bills increase government oversight, expand corporate-driven education models, and integrate Texas into a federal workforce development agenda. #TXLege #STOPHB3 #SchoolChoice .@BradBuckleyDVM @RepAllenTX131 @GinaForAustin @brianeharrison @TrentAshbyTX @johnbryantfortx @Dist32StateRep @HelenKerwin4TX @leachfortexas @TerriLeoWilson @NateSchatzline @Schoolcraft4TX Click here to learn more: open.substack.com/pub/alicel…