Watch Star-Telegram presents Beyond The Headline: School choice

Whether you call it “school choice,” “education savings accounts” or “vouchers,” Texas legislators are expected to resume their battle this month over using state education money to help parents pay for private-school tuition and other learning expenses.

But what do the terms mean? What are the best arguments for and against such a plan? And how would Fort Worth-area schools be affected?

To answer these questions, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, in conjunction with the Texas A&M University School of Law, is kicking off a new event series, “Beyond The Headline.” Our goal is to get away from the political heat and offer perspectives on the issues at hand.

Tuesday’s debate kicked off at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17, at Texas A&M’s campus downtown in the Amon Carter Lecture Hall. Limited event space meant we could only give seats to the subscribers who emailed and RSVP’ed ahead of time. But you can watch a recorded livestream of the debate, moderated by Star-Telegram Opinion Editor Ryan J. Rusak, in the YouTube player below or on Facebook Live.

The discussion features two passionate advocates on either side. Corey DeAngelis of San Antonio is executive director at the Educational Freedom Institute and is widely known as a “school choice evangelist.” Scott Milder of Rockwall is the co-founder of Friends of Texas Public Schools, which aims to highlight strengths and achievements in public education. For one hour, they teed up the best arguments for and against school choice in a policy-focused way.

Email rrusak@star-telegram.com to be included on the RSVP list for future “Beyond the Headline” events.

This story was originally published October 17, 2023 at 5:30 PM.