He's Ba-ack!

“Can we truly expect those who aim to exploit us to be trusted to educate us?”

- Eric Schaub 

Remember this guy?

Spinmaster Vaught

I’m sad to report that Representative Vaught’s identity crisis is more than just a campaign strategy.

SB1000 was a very important bill from the last legislative session. Vaught understood this bill, and he understood the need and importance of this bill. Vaught even used information about this autism scholarships bill to schmooze with Senator Florence Shapiro, the author of SB1000.

The Texas Parent PAC told Vaught, tsk tsk, SB1000 is a voucher and reminded him that they call his shots.

Vaught joined Rep. Heflin’s group which refused to hear any voucher bills.

Vaught and his small, nasty gang of internet defenders tried to weasle out of this by claiming that the bill never made it to the house for a vote. Acting as if he would have supported this bill had he only been given the chance.

Vaught’s money folks, The Texas Parent PAC, told him this bill was a voucher.

Vaught joined Rep. Heflin’s no vouchers coalition.

Pathetic.

I’d like to tell you a little more about SB1000. SB1000 was a type of voucher bill that would have allowed students with autism to move to the most appropriate program within the home school district, move to an appropriate program in another district or move to an appropriate private program – funded with public education money.

Why was SB1000 so important?

Texas schools have a bad habit of not following federal education laws, particularly the IDEA or Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Why else?

Autism is on the rise. It is estimated that 1 in 25 boys are now on the autism spectrum. 1 in 25 boys! The official rate of diagnosis is 1 in 150 over both genders.

Autism is referred to as a spectrum disorder, because the range of skills and disability varies so widely.

My son with autism should not be in a classroom with my friend’s son with autism. My son is high functioning. Her son is non-verbal.

Education is the best treatment for autism.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act guarantees FAPE or a Free and Appropriate Public Education. The keyword here is Appropriate.

Because autism is a spectrum disorder, to provide FAPE each child’s education must be completely individualized.

The education plan must be driven by the child’s needs, not by the administration.

When children with autism do not receive an appropriate education, they regress. They get worse. They fall apart. They don’t just “not learn” – they are on the fast track to institutionalization, no matter where they fall on the spectrum.

This bill, SB1000, would have allowed families to bypass uncooperative administrations, avoid regressions and many times avoid institutionalization as an adult.

This was a very important bill, because it would have allowed many children to completely shed the autism label, it would give other children the life skills and social understanding necessary to live happier, less costly, more productive lives and it would have saved taxpayers money by keeping many people out of institutions.

SB1000 would have allowed access to an appropriate education for a specific population of children, using public money.

Allen Vaught signed up to not even hear SB1000 if it made it to the House.

Fast forward to this session.

Allen Vaught and the Texas Parent PAC seem to have had a change of heart. Not only does he support a voucher bill this time around, he actually co-authored one!

HB130 is a voucher bill for a specific population of children. It will provide Pre-K in private schools using public money. Full day pre-K.

Something like $8000 per year per child for full day pre-K.

That’s about what you’d pay to send your child to the elite east Dallas Montessori schools like White Rock and Lakewood.

I know this, because I have a pre-K child. She has learned to read this year. She matches, she cuts, she understands the life cycle of frogs and butterflies, she knows the state flower and state bird, she writes her name with correct capital and lowercase letters, and she is beginning to add and subtract.

She goes to school from 9-12 3 mornings a week.

There are 6 kids in her class.

I pay $140/month in tuition.

That’s $1400/year.

What is behind Allen Vaught’s flip flopping?

Does he prefer one population (children who qualify for free school lunch program) to children with autism?

What is behind the massive amount of funding that is requested for this program?

Does Allen Vaught send his own son to an elite east Dallas Montessori? Does he really think it costs that much for a quality pre-K education?

My son’s east Dallas elementary school automatically qualified him for the free lunch program, despite the fact that we in no way qualified for this program. I sent him with a lunch box every day so he wasn’t eating a bunch of processed crap.

I point this out because perhaps parents of pre-schoolers with autism could use the school’s fraudulent behavior to qualify for full-day pre-K.

So what is HB130 really about when compared to a bill like SB1000?

HB130 is state-funded babysitting for a large block of voters – low-income hispanics. Bonus, with the incredible amount of funding there will plenty left over for suspicious contracts and suspicious investigations.

SB1000 was a path to independence for families whose children were many times cut off completely from public education.

Allen Vaught co-authored a voucher bill to provide babysitting to a specific population, because the size of that population makes for a powerful vote.

Allen Vaught vowed to oppose a bill that would have saved children’s lives because the people behind the scenes told him our kids wouldn’t provide enough of a payoff. The money would have followed the child, eliminating theft and deals.

This is your real state representative, District 107. A PAC-owned sycophant with his eye on Washington when it should be on the vulnerable children and communities in his district.