The Texas Public Policy Foundation recently hosted a panel on charter schools entitled “Innovation, Educational Excellence, and the Role of Charters.” Panelists included Senator Florence Shapiro, Chair of the Senate Education Committee; Linda Bridges, President of the Texas Chapter of the American Federation of Teachers; Tom Torkelson; CEO and Founder of IDEA public schools; and Paul Vallas; Superintendent of the Louisiana Recovery School District. This document lists the main points of each panelist.
K-12 Education
Meeting Texas Workforce Needs with ESAs
Texas is unique because of its unparalleled dedication to CTE training. Our state, alone, gives schools $3.2 billion as a CTE allotment (three times more than the Federal Government gives to all 50 states), but schools are only required to spend 55% or $1,76 billion of hte allotment on CTE, incentivizing schools to offer cheap...
June 16, 2025