Texas Teacher Retirement System leader says Senate voucher proposal would not harm retirement funds
The head of Texas' Teacher Retirement System on Wednesday sought to assure lawmakers that a Senate proposal to create a school voucher program would not harm the state's teacher retirement fund as suggested in a recent legislative analysis.
During a House Appropriations Committee meeting, lawmakers who help oversee the state budget questioned Brian Guthrie, executive director of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, on how Senate Bill 2 could affect the stability of funds reserved for retired teachers.
Under SB 2, families could receive public tax dollars through state-managed education savings accounts to pay for their children's tuition at an accredited private school and other expenses like textbooks, transportation and therapy.
Texas budget experts recently concluded in their analysis of SB 2 that public schools, which receive money based on attendance, may experience a decrease in funding due to students leaving the public education system to participate in the voucher program.
The analysis, which relies on estimates provided by the Texas Education Agency, projects that roughly 24,500 students would leave public schools for private schools starting in the 2026-27 school year, increasing to 98,000 by 2030. Public school administrators and education advocates have long opposed the creation of a voucher program in Texas, saying it would deal a significant blow to public school funding.
But a different part of the bill analysis, based on information provided by the Teacher Retirement System, raised worries among public education advocates and state lawmakers in recent weeks. The analysis noted that a decrease in the number of teachers paying into the state's teacher retirement fund — which could happen if a voucher program leads students and teachers to exit public schools for private schools — could affect the fund's long-term stability. Lawmakers on Wednesday said they have received concerns from their constituents about the stability of the retirement funds.
Guthrie apologized to House lawmakers for the commotion the SB 2 analysis has caused. Based on the content of the bill and the education agency estimates his organization has reviewed, Guthrie clarified that he does not believe the legislation would harm Texas' teacher retirement fund. The Teacher Retirement System executive director said his agency intended to offer the scenario in the bill analysis as a hypothetical, adding that 'it would be very difficult for SB 2' as it currently exists and with current projections to hurt the fund's stability. The analysis also states that the retirement system can currently withstand 'some outflow of teacher employment from public schools to private schools.'
'That's just the bottom line,' Guthrie said.
That explanation did not appear to fully settle Rep. Mary E. González's concerns. The Clint Democrat noted that the SB 2 analysis does not account for changes to population growth, public school enrollment or birth rates, for example. She suggested those factors, combined with a voucher program, could also affect the number of students and teachers in public schools and the fund's stability.
'We can all have different opinions about SB 2,' González said. 'But I do want our retired teachers to have all the accurate information, and I think that's really critical.'
The SB 2 analysis noted that the number of teachers paying into the retirement fund in the future will 'ultimately depend on Texas' population growth.' The number of teachers contributing to the retirement fund has consistently gone up in recent years, the analysis shows.
During the Senate floor debate over the legislation earlier this month, Sen. Brandon Creighton, the Conroe Republican who authored the bill, sought to reassure his colleagues that the proposal would not affect the Teacher Retirement System, stating that 'we would never design a program that would put TRS at risk.'
He made those comments in response to questions from Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, who also said she has seen no evidence from other states that voucher programs harm teacher retirement funds. In a finance committee meeting last week, Huffman again attempted to dismiss those concerns.
'Of course we are committed to not doing anything to hurt our retired' teachers, she said. 'It would be stupid to do.'
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In one, he said he had been friends with David Emerson, a missionary who was murdered in Zimbabwe in 1987 along with 10 others. In another sermon, he appeared to criticize gay and transgender people. 'There's people, especially in America, they don't know what sex they are,' he said. 'They don't know their sexual orientation, they're confused. The enemy has gotten so far into their mind and their soul.' Boelter and his wife, Jenny, were listed on a website as running a private security company, though it was not clear whether it had any clients. The company, Praetorian Guard Security Services, lists Boelter as the director of security patrols and his wife as president. Jenny Boelter was stopped Saturday morning by police officers near a convenience store in Onamia, Minnesota, roughly 70 miles north of the area of the shootings, according to Sheriff Kyle Burton of Mille Lacs County. The sheriff said other relatives were in the car, and a witness said he saw three children get out of the car during the stop. All were cooperative, and none was taken into custody, officials said. Advertisement The firm's website describes using Ford Explorer SUVs, 'the same make and model of vehicles that many police departments use.' On Saturday afternoon, police towed a Ford Explorer from outside Hortman's home. The website for Boelter's security company makes expansive claims about his work experience that could not immediately be verified, including that he had been 'involved with security situations' in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Federal tax forms show that Boelter and his wife once led a Christian nonprofit called Revoformation Ministries. An archived version of the group's website described Boelter as becoming an ordained minister in 1993. Boelter, the site said, had traveled to violent areas and had 'sought out militant Islamists in order to share the Gospel and tell them that violence wasn't the answer.' Boelter made similar claims during one of his sermons in Congo, saying he had been confronted by armed militants while distributing pamphlets in places like the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon. How was the attack carried out? Authorities say the assassin disguised himself as a police officer -- wearing a ballistic vest, gloves and a mask -- before going to the lawmakers' homes in two Minneapolis suburbs early Saturday. After police responded to Hoffman's home, finding that he and his wife, Yvette, had both been shot, they decided to check on Hortman at home. There, they encountered the assailant, who they said fled on foot after an exchange of gunfire with officers around 3:30 a.m. Inside, police found Hortman and her husband, Mark, dead. Advertisement U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., said in an interview that the gunman had a notebook with a list of names that included hers and those of other lawmakers, all of whom were Democrats. The list included about 70 potential targets, a federal law enforcement official said, including doctors, community and business leaders, and locations for Planned Parenthood and other health care centers. Some of the targets were in neighboring states. A search led police Sunday afternoon to Sibley County, a rural community southwest of Minneapolis, where they found what they believed was Boelter's vehicle near Green Isle -- roughly 10 minutes from his listed address. Officials said late Sunday that Boelter had been taken into custody. This article originally appeared in
