“Examining SAISD School Shutdowns: Unpacking the Connection to Gentrification as Gov. Abbott Collaborates with Pastors on School Funding Reductions”

Hello SAISD Parents and San Antonio Community Members, 

I know that most of you are worried about your child’s school closing, but remember the campus will remain open this school year. Yet, throughout the years, we have had to close schools in Texas. It’s a sad day when any schools in Texas have to close their doors. As these schools close, it hurts our communities. I know many are mad at the Superintendent of SAISD, but it’s not all his fault. The biggest issue is that rich people have invaded some of the poorest parts of our district and started remodeling homes, tearing some of them down to build new houses that start at $2-300,000 or higher. Some build new apartments that aren’t affordable, so this has caused parents to move to other places they can afford, which means they leave our school district. Now, what can we do? We must find a way to get builders to build and provide affordable housing for our families in SAISD. SAISD has lost students over the years, hurting our families and communities. It’s hard to believe that the schools in our community will close their doors, but the reality is that without funding, they cannot keep these schools open. 

Our Governor and other politicians who support passing a voucher program have said that this is something parents have asked for this year. But is it really? Because if we follow the money, we can see the nonprofits and the rich people filling their pockets and pushing their agenda as well- all to start a voucher program to help others make more money. When you follow the money that wants private school vouchers, we know that “The Family Empowerment Coalition.” that came in June of this year, the Texas Federation for Children, Texas for Education Freedom, and many others are the ones that want vouchers. These nonprofits are trying to defund all public schools by giving money and printing advertisements to downgrade our public schools and teachers. The idea that any nonprofit or rich person can take control of our schools is not right, but this works for our Governor. In fact, during his campaigns, we have seen significant donations from billionaires and companies, all to guarantee that our Governor will put them on some board to help with our educational needs and other things in our state. If writing a big check is all we need to do to keep our schools open, we would but we are not all developers, we are residents and productive citizens of this community trying to fight inflation. But if everyone sent all their loose change not in a check but in buckets to the Governor’s door, let’s see what he has to say about closing our schools then. Let our voices be heard because we all want our public schools to have the funds to stay open. 

As one last push, our Governor joined in with all these pastors via tele-town hall through Cornerstone Church Lead Pastor Matt Hagee, who runs a private school that costs over $24,000 a year. The call was another tactic on trying to defund our public schools because he’s asking them all to preach on October 15th about “school choice” to their Parrish so now he’s trying to run our church’s too. I understand that some families will sacrifice to send their children to a private school, which is great, but asking all Texans to use our taxes to fund private schools is too much. Our Governor seems to think he’s the President, CEO, and God of Texas, as he has now gone above and beyond his duties. Let us remind him of his actual responsibilities per our state constitutional and statutory obligations of the Governor, including:

• Signing or vetoing bills passed by the Legislature

• Serving as commander-in-chief of the state’s military forces

• Convening special sessions of the Legislature for specific purposes

So, now the bigger question is how to help all these unnecessary special sessions and save the state money. Parents, in most school districts, we have Magnet Schools, Charter Schools, and STEM schools, so let’s keep what we have and call it a day. Starting a third funding system for school vouchers will remove what we have in place today. If we want schools to stay open, we must send letters to the Governor asking him to stop trying to defund our public schools. I encourage our parents, teachers, and community to make their voices heard because we’re all a part of this great state of Texas. We need to ask why it’s okay for our Governor Greg Abbott to bully us by holding on to the funds we need, which is wrong. We must ask more questions if this is how he runs our state.  

Send a letter or call Gov. Abbott: 

Mailing address: 

P.O. Box 12428

Austin, Texas 78711-2428

Phone: 512-463-2000

Lastly, parents, if we can work together, we can create a better future for our children. If anyone has any questions or concerns please email me at lena.lopez@saobserver.com.

Have a Blessed Week, 

Lena Lopez