Houston pastor: ‘Education freedom is the path to reverse the decline of our minority communities across Texas’

In an op-ed for Texas Public Policy Foundation, Houston Pastor Dana Carson discussed the benefits that he believes school choice could have for minority populations.

“This is why education freedom is so important: It brings the ability to choose a different education for parents who otherwise couldn’t,” Carson wrote. “Education freedom is the path to reverse the decline of our minority communities across Texas. Give parents the choice, and we’ll charge forward for our children to ensure they have everything they need to flourish.” 

Carson highlighted the "school-to-prison pipeline." Seventy percent of inmates in the Texas prison system read below a fourth-grade level, which can be traced back to particular zip codes and the failing schools in those zip codes. Although black people comprise a small percentage of Texas’ overall population (about 12%), they make up one-third of the state's prison population. 

Carson hopes that giving parents more choice when it comes to schools would help educate those who live in underprivileged areas. It would allow parents who couldn't otherwise afford private schools to have more options open to them.

He discusses the three freedoms he feels school choice would give minorities in Texas: freedom for every parent to select the right education for their child, the freedom for each student to reach their potential and the freedom for their communities to rise above the hopelessness and despair they may be experiencing.

Carson is the founder and senior pastor of the Reflections of Christ’s Kingdom World Outreach International in Houston, which he started in 2003. He has over 38 years of full-time and pastoral ministry experience.

A school choice bill, which recently passed by the Texas Senate, would create education savings accounts (ESAs) of up to $8,000 for families to be used for private school tuition, books, tutoring, transportation, uniforms and other materials, according to the Dallas Morning News. These purchases would be overseen by the comptroller’s office.

With this ESA bill, families wouldn't get money upfront and funds could only be used for private schools and other vendors approved by the state. It also has provisions for rural Texans to help ensure that smaller school districts wouldn't be defunded with the bill's passing. These provisions appear to be in response to criticisms of similar bills in other states. This bill has not yet been passed in the Texas House.