The battle over vouchers again
Dave McNeely

VoucherMan hasn't completely given up, but obviously has decided its time to change tactics. James Leininger seems to have encountered the political equivalent of Kryptonite, that used to weaken Superman 's super powers.

Leininger, the San Antonio multi-millionaire who has personally put millions into election campaigns to elect voucher supporters, has had it demonstrated to him that a considerable number of Texans simply don't think it's a good idea.

For those who oppose spending public tax dollars on private school vouchers, and think Texas public schools need more money, Leininger's relative lack of success in the 2006 elections is a good thing.

After the 2006 elections, there are six more Democrats in the House - all voucher opponents -- and six fewer Republicans. House Speaker Tom Craddick's GOP majority dropped from 87-63 in 2005 to 81-69 in 2007.

Despite the 12-vote GOP margin, Craddick recently cited the new math as a major reason he was challenged for the speakership.

The new math was also bad for Leininger, who spent $5 million backing voucher supporters for House seats last year. Not only did the number of Democrats increase by six, several of the Republicans elected last year replaced or beat voucher supporters.

House Democratic Caucus Chair Jim Dunnam, D-Waco, said he'd hoped to pick up two seats, and several months earlier had feared losing three or four.

The margin in the House was one or two votes during 2005 sessions on some tough issues, such as vouchers, Dunnam said. "That's why our goal was two seats, because it could change the whole complexion of the Texas House."

Even though Craddick survived the challenge by Republican Rep. Jim Pitts of Waxahachie by six votes, on a procedural vote to choose between a secret and open vote for speaker, the House dynamics may have hit the tipping point that public school fans have been wanting.

Indeed, several of the 15 Democrats who supported Craddick's re-election - "Craddick D's," the disappointed majority of Democrats call them - said at a press conference in late January that they were still in agreement with the Democrats on major issues, including opposition to vouchers.

There's even talk of turning the tables on voucher opponents, by outlawing use of public school tax money on vouchers for private schools.

The Senate, presided over by Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, wanted to be more moderate on school issues than the House has been under Craddick. Public school backers hope the Craddick scare will empower senators to put more emphasis on funding schools than on tax cuts.

Indeed, a former senator -- Bill Ratliff, R-Mt. Pleasant - heads a recently announced group of business and education leaders called "Raise Your Hand." The group will push for more public money for things like making high-quality all-day pre-kindergarten available for every child four or five years old.

Certainly the nasty national mood over the Iraq war and congressional scandals helped energize Texas Democrats, and helped to bring changes like the Democratic sweep of dozens of countywide offices in Dallas County.

But the Texas Parent PAC also had an impact.

The group of self-described "soccer moms" organized in July of 2005 to focus awareness of public school issues on House elections. They ignored those who said they should stick to baking cookies and stay out of the hot kitchen of politics.

They raised money, developed principles to evaluate candidates and incumbents (see them at www.TxParentPac.com), recruited candidates, and developed fairly sophisticated databases of potential voters attuned to school issues in targeted districts.

They engineered mailings and phone calls to present and former school personnel and school board members, and perhaps most important, parents. The group raised and spent about half a million dollars over the election cycle - about a tenth of what Leininger shelled out. And the PAC had a significantly better track record than Leininger.

"We learned a lot that will help us in 2008," said Carolyn Boyle president of the Texas Parent PAC.

While hoping the House and Senate won't "waste their time and energy" on vouchers, Boyle said that just as legislators ordered accountability tests for students, her group is developing one for legislators - and continuing to hunt for new talent.

"We're not going away," Boyle said. "We plan on watching very carefully what's happening at the capitol, and how members vote. I'm just hoping that their attitudes will change, and that people will be listening closer to the people back home, and not just what the leadership is telling them."

Reach McNeely at dmcneely@austin.rr.com or (512) 323-0248.

Editor's Note: Rep. Juan Garcia, D-Corpus Christi (beat Republican Rep. Gene Seaman), is among those supported by the Texas Parent PAC.