Top education leaders in the Texas Senate are hearing testimony on offering state-funded school vouchers.
The Senate Education Committee is exploring the potential affect of these programs, which allow your tax dollars to follow your child to either public or private schools.
In Lubbock the idea has supporters and opponents.
"Any time you introduce competitiveness into a system you always get better," Lubbock County Republican party chairman Carl Tepper said.
"And right now we don't give parents the choice. We don't really give teachers the choice, we don't give administrators the choice of how they manage and where they can manage," Tepper said. "This will give them a much broader spectrum for students and teachers and families to decide the educational benefit for their children."
Alice Keller, president of the Lubbock Educators Association disagrees.
"Public schools, you know, take everyone and offer an education program from everyone under the sun," Keller said.
"Private and religious schools, however, that receive tax dollars based on the voucher program would be able to discriminate, essentially, against students based on prior academic achievement, special needs, behavioral issues, gender and religion even."
The State Senate Education Committee is also considering lifting the current cap of 215 charter schools licensed to operate statewide.
