It’s been an interesting week in Austin. The locals like to quip that the circus is in town when the Texas Legislature is in session.

In todays’ uber-modern world, all the committee meetings and sessions are a mouse click away, allowing ordinary citizens to “watch the sausage being made” and much like the cliché, there some real funk in the air.

I have been watching/listening to the Senate Education Committee discuss school vouchers. Both sides have good points to debate, but many of the testimony in favor of vouchers talk about how dangerous public schools are, or poorly they perform. Proponents want to have a choice for their children, and it’s hard to argue with that.

What I find interesting is that no one is asking the question why public education is such a mess. Isn’t the legislature responsible for doing all it can to create a public education that provides a safe learning environment? If so, they appear to admit they are not doing a very good job and so we’re going to let families have the choice to get vouchers for private, for-profit institutes.

It was also interesting to hear two pastors who have private schools at their churches against vouchers because they don’t believe any religion, or faith-based organization receive money from the government even though they would stand to profit from the decision. Now that is standing on your conviction.