Southwest
Texas Gov. Abbott signs $1 billion voucher program into law, capping off win for school choice advocates
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed a school choice bill into law on Saturday that will allocate $1 billion for a voucher program that allows parents to use public funds to pay for their child’s private school tuition.
The program’s implementation caps off a yearslong effort by Republicans who have been advocating for school choice. Voucher supporters have long focused on Texas, where previous efforts failed amid resistance from Democrats and rural Republicans.
Last month, President Donald Trump called on state lawmakers ahead of a key vote on the bill to finally send the measure to Abbott’s desk. The Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 2 by a party-line 19-12 vote on April 24 after the state House approved the bill by an 86-63 vote the week before.
“When I ran for reelection in 2022, I promised school choice for the families of Texas,” Abbott said before signing the bill at the governor’s mansion. “Today, we deliver on that promise.”
LIBERAL SUPREME COURT JUSTICES GRILL RELIGIOUS INSTITUTION IN LANDMARK SCHOOL CHOICE CASE
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed a school choice bill into law on Saturday. (REUTERS/Callaghan O’hare)
Abbott was joined by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, state House Speaker Dustin Burrows, bill author and state Sen. Brandon Creighton, U.S. Senator John Cornyn, school choice advocates and students and their families.
“From here forward, [Texas students] will have unlimited potential and unlimited options in education to pursue for the rest of their path and education and what their families do best, and that in of itself was worth the journey,” Creighton said.
Texas joins more than 30 other states that already have similar programs. The Lone Star State will have the largest voucher program in the country.
School vouchers have been Abbott’s main focus this year, following last year’s election cycle in which he called for Republican primary voters to remove from office GOP lawmakers who voted against a similar bill in the last legislative session that the governor had supported.
‘BAD FOR PARENTS’: SCHOOL CHOICE SUPPORTERS PROTEST EXCLUSION OF RELIGIOUS CHARTER IN SUPREME COURT CASE
The Lone Star State will have the largest voucher program in the country. (Montinique Monroe/Getty Images)
Supporters of the bill say it will give parents more options by allowing them to take their children out of poor-performing public schools in favor of alternative public or private school choices.
“Gone are the days that families are limited to only the schools assigned by government,” Abbott said. “The day has arrived that empowers parents to choose the school that is best for their child.”
Democrats and Republicans in rural districts who have criticized the program argue that it will pull financial resources from Texas’ public school students and subsidize the private education of wealthy families.
“Let’s be clear: this bill is only best for the richest people in the state, and rural Texas especially will get the shaft,” Texas Democratic Party chairman Kendall Scudder said in a statement. “To top it all off, Abbott’s school shut-downs are in full-swing with no end in sight.”
Texas joins more than 30 other states that already have similar programs. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Starting next school year, families can receive $10,000 per year to help pay for their child’s private school tuition or costs for home-schooling and virtual learning programs. Children with disabilities can qualify for as much as $30,000 per year.
The program will be capped at $1 billion for the first year and cover up to 90,000 students. But by 2030, it could cost up to $4.5 billion per year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read the full article from Here
A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
Dangerous rip currents and high surf are forecast for Los Angeles County beaches, including the Malibu Coast this weekend.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous beach statement, warning of the potentially deadly beach conditions. The dangerous conditions are forecast to last from Saturday evening to Monday morning.
“There is an increased risk of ocean drowning,” the NWS forecast reads. “Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats nearshore.”
-
A guide to surviving rip currents from the National Weather Service (NWS)
Minor Beach erosion and coastal flooding is possible through the weekend. The flooding is most likely to occur during evening high tides from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Beachgoers are advised to stay out of the water and remain near lifeguard towers. Jetties and tidepools are also especially dangerous during the weekend forecast.
“Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks,” the NWS forecast reads.
Similar hazardous beach conditions are also in the forecast for Santa Barbara County. A high surf advisory is also in effect for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties this weekend, where 10 to 15-foot waves will be possible.
If you live or want to live in Los Angeles, the city controller has released a new dashboard highlighting some of the city’s most notorious problem rental properties, a tool designed to help renters avoid future headaches.
“This project comes at a time when tenants are reporting harassment and illegal evictions violating the City’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance and Tenant Anti‑Harassment Ordinance, but very few of the complaints end up leading to strong enforcement or real accountability,” L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia said in a media release Thursday.
The new Top 100 Problem Rental Properties dashboard includes a searchable database of all residential addresses with reported housing violation cases within the city of Los Angeles, a ranked list of the 100 addresses with the most violations and an interactive map.
“There has never before been an uncomplicated way for anyone to look up years’ worth of violations by address,” Mejia said in the release.
Data for the dashboard was compiled from multiple sources, including the Los Angeles Housing Department, Los Angeles City Planning and the L.A. County Assessor’s Office, according to the controller’s office.
The release also identified the top three addresses with the highest number of reported housing violations:
1. 636 1/2 North Hill Place, Chinatown
192 housing violation cases
2. 11700 West Wilshire Boulevard, Sawtelle
166 housing violation cases
3. 6650 West Forest Lawn Drive, Hollywood Hills
113 housing violation cases
“Our new dashboard is an easy‑to‑understand public tool that we hope will help renters and organizers document patterns of harm, as well as put pressure on both landlords and the City to act,” Mejia said. “Everyone deserves safe, stable and dignified housing.”
-
Pittsburg, PA5 minutes agoCity of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy break ground on McKinley Park Community Grove
-
Augusta, GA11 minutes agoVA of Augusta holds hiring fair for health care positions
-
Washington, D.C17 minutes agoNational Moral Monday: Prophetic Witness Outside the White House | Repairers of the Breach
-
Cleveland, OH23 minutes agoPlan ahead: Road closures and where to watch the Cleveland Marathon
-
Austin, TX29 minutes agoTexas Softball Keeps Cruising in Austin Regional, Shuts Out Wisconsin
-
Alabama35 minutes ago‘They may draw racist maps, but we are the south’: thousands rally in Alabama for Black voting rights
-
Alaska41 minutes agoRoyal Caribbean Changes Disembarkation Port for Alaska Cruise – Cruise Industry News
-
Arizona47 minutes agoArizona high school band to perform at America’s 250th birthday parade