Teacher Jessica Meza got up on her Saturday off from her third year teaching math at Northeast Early College High School and drove to Kealing Middle School to meet with other educators.
She and about 100 members of Education Austin – a union representing Austin school district employees – marched from the middle school to the Texas Capitol to join hundreds of people gathered to demand increased funding for Texas schools and to voice opposition to a proposed school voucher program.
Meza came out because of her students, especially those who are immigrants.
“It’s not a fear of losing my job,” Meza said. “It’s a fear of losing my students.”
Meza felt a responsibility to come out and call for lawmakers to give more resources to her students and to provide a secure learning environment for children, she said.
“When we fight for our schools, we fight for our community, we fight for the most vulnerable, the working class,” Meza said.
Donnye Stone, holding a “No to Vouchers” sign, and Allison Sliva, middle, march in the Save Texas Schools rally for increased funding for public schools and to oppose school vouchers at the Texas Capitol on April 5, 2025.
Meza was one of hundreds of educators and other people who gathered on the South Steps of the Capitol on Saturday as part of the Save Texas Schools rally. The people gathered called on lawmakers to grow public education funding for campuses across Texas, but also chastised efforts at the federal level to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education; ban diversity, equity and inclusion programs and promote school vouchers.
School vouchers, which would use public dollars to fund private school tuition, have become one of the biggest hot-button issues during the Texas legislative session.
The educators also gathered as many districts around the state face difficult budget decisions. The Austin district faces a $110 million deficit, which is forcing administrators to cut positions, slash programs and even consider shuttering campuses.
The state’s funding levels haven’t kept up with the pace of inflation, said Allen Weeks, the executive director of nonprofit Austin Voices for Youth and Education, which in part, organized the rally.
The crowd chanted with him, “1-3-0-0,” signifying the amount they want lawmakers to raise base-level student funding, now at $6,160.
While proponents say the program could provide another option, those at the rally made their position clear.
“Say it loud, say it clear: voucher scams aren’t welcome here,” the group of Austin teachers shouted as they marched up the hill to the Capitol.
Allison Sliva marches in the Save Texas Schools rally for increased funding for public schools and to oppose school vouchers at the Texas Capitol on April 5, 2025.
U.S. Congressman Greg Casar said vouchers took tax money meant for public school students to fund the program. He railed against the changes brought to education at the federal level, including cuts initiated by widespread changes by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
“We’re going to save our public schools, save our public school teachers and fire Elon Musk,” Casar said.
The cuts and President Donald Trump’s planned dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education pose a threat to students, said U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett.
“This isn’t just about closing a building in Washington,” Doggett said. “It’s about weakening and endangering our most vulnerable students and endangering out schools here in Texas.”
The teachers gathered after the House Committee on Public Education last week voted out Senate Bill 2, a school voucher bill, and teeing up the controversial legislation for a debate of the full Texas House.
While the Texas Senate has easily passed the program multiple times, the legislation has always reached a sticking point in the House where a coalition of rural Republicans and Democrats in 2023 blocked vouchers from moving forward.
Eric Ramos (left), Grace Carriker-Cavin and Erica Hoffman lead members of Education Austin from Kealing Middle School to the Texas Capitol for the Save Texas Schools rally for increased funding for public schools and to oppose school vouchers on April 5, 2025.
The event on Saturday was a sequel to a February rally when hundreds of teachers and parents marched through the cold to make a similar ask of lawmakers.
Conrado Gonzales, a PE teacher at Wells Branch Elementary School in Round Rock, returned for Saturday’s rally with the same sign he’d had in February. The posterboard read, “Vouchers suck.”
Schools need resources, including funding, to help many of the most in-need students, he said.
“In the name of just fairness and equity, I see so many disadvantaged students that are brilliant and they deserve a chance to succeed,” Gonzales said.
The Senate has already advanced a $4.3 billion proposal to raise teacher pay and the House education committee last week advanced a $7.6 billion bill that would raise base-level per pupil funding by almost $400 and increase special education funding by $1.8 billion, among other things.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas teachers, parents rally for more school funding, oppose vouchers