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Jeb Bush Pushes Education Policies

Lizzie Chen, KUT News

One of the biggest Republican stars in the country provided some advice on overhauling public education to the state Senate today. 

“I would advocate that when you have a chance to reform, it ought to be big,” former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush told the Senate Education Committee. “You ought to go big or go home.”

Bush said that his state’s education policy changes would also suit Texas. Those changes include rigorous standardized testing, allowing for more charter schools, providing publicly funded tuition vouchers for private schools, and allowing for more computer-based learning.

“A lesson we learned is, put money behind the reforms and you’ll get better results,” he said.

Some of Bush’s proposed changes to education policy are already being advanced in the Texas Legislature, including a proposal to lift the cap on charter schools and give tax breaks to businesses that fund private school tuition for low-income students.

Nathan Bernier is the transportation reporter at KUT. He covers the big projects that are reshaping how we get around Austin, like the I-35 overhaul, the airport's rapid growth and the multibillion-dollar transit expansion Project Connect. He also focuses on the daily changes that affect how we walk, bike and drive around the city. Got a tip? Email him at nbernier@kut.org. Follow him on X @KUTnathan.
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