Whenever politics is brought up, you can expect head shakes and awkward pauses. Coppell is notably a tight-knit community, and there’s nothing more anti-community than politics… right?
Not this time.
The fact is, public school students are the real losers of this election. Like many others, I was blissfully unaware of what really was at stake until a few months prior to the election (largely because school finances are not the most riveting topic). But, when I got involved in local politics, I realized how much control local elections have over my own school and how a variety of planned policies affect us.
Coppell ISD voters rejected Proposition A, a Voter Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE), which would have contributed $2.4 million to the 2024-25 school year budget. Combined with decisions by the state government, public schools such as Coppell High School are taking hard looks at balance sheets with a lot of red.
Governor Greg Abbott has continued to push for a school voucher program (often called Educational Savings Accounts or ESAs) that would reduce the funding of public schools in exchange for money towards private schools.
As a student whose family purposefully chose to attend public school in Coppell, ESAs are simply unfair. The state would rather prioritize schools that can choose who to accept and are often designed for specific segments of youth rather than wide and diverse communities. Unfortunately, anti-ESA candidates experienced losses in 2024, meaning we could very well see these disastrous policies as soon as next year when the next session of the Texas legislature convenes.
Instead of raising the floor, the state government would rather abandon the building entirely.
Loss of funding leads to the loss of schools. I attended Pinkerton Elementary School, which will be consolidated following the school year, and I feel horrible that students will not get to have the same experiences offered by smaller schools like Pinkerton. My friends who attend New Tech High @ Coppell, which was considered for a similar fate, should not have to live in fear of a closure.
For CHS students specifically, CISD Superintendent Dr. Brad Hunt explained in a press release that they would consider secondary school schedule changes such as a move away from block schedules. That is big: students taking or planning on taking multiple difficult classes in their high school career would be loaded with even more homework and stress as a result. Reverting back to the old system of seven grueling periods a day is a real possibility as a direct result of financial decisions.
The votes are in: almost every student at our school will be affected by this new financial burden. So, what can we do about it?
For starters, CHS students can vote when they turn 18. More importantly, they need to make sure they are educated about everything on their ballot, especially candidates and propositions further down on their ballots. Students can also voice their concerns during public comment periods at school board meetings, especially when decisions that concern them are being considered.
And, of course, they ought to utilize their First Amendment rights by protesting, petitioning and expressing their approval or disapproval of actions taken by various levels of government.
There are going to be many tough conversations at dinner tables, schools and in the legislature alike. Instead of sitting idly by, we ought to do our part in our democracy in whatever way we can.
I know I will.
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