On December 19, 2012, Sen. Dan Patrick, chair of the Senate Education Committee, announced his plans for public education. Glaring was the omission of any mention in the hour-long press conference of restoring funding to public schools. Proposals included a voucher plan, couched as a business tax credit, greater school choice across and between school districts, lifting the cap on charter schools, implementing a “parent trigger” option, increased investment in technology (including blended learning), tweaks to the admittedly broken testing system, an A-F grading scale for schools, and closing schools that are academically unacceptable for two years (rather than the current six-year timeline). The final proposal could result in the closure of hundreds of schools, with the potential of converting them to charter schools.

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/senate-leaders-offer-school-choice-proposals-other/nTZ7K/