February 20, 2015 3:08 PM

Smith: The Voucher Con

From the Left: Quorum Report's liberal columnist Glenn W. Smith argues that Texans are too smart to fall for claims from voucher proponents

As a cub reporter back in the mid-1970s I covered an attempt by some West Houston, Galleria-area people to secede from the Houston Independent School District. The move, which would have carved out an affluent, all-white district, came not long after the federally mandated desegregation of Houston schools.

Over the course of the public debate, the leader of the school secession movement pledged that the “Westheimer Independent School District” would 1) Use what had been HISD facilities; 2) retain HISD teachers; 3) follow the HISD curriculum. So, I asked him during a live public television interview show, what’s the point of creating a new school district if you are going to operate exactly like the old one? The secessionist leader, an affable attorney, paused a moment before answering, “Esprit de corps.”

Webster’s online dictionary defines “esprit de corps” as “feelings of loyalty, enthusiasm, and devotion to a group among people who are members of the group.” In this case, “members of the group” were exclusively white, wealthy, suburban families who didn’t want to share a little esprit or anything else with those not belonging to their exclusive group.

I thought of this when I read an excellent op-ed opposing vouchers in the Houston Chronicle by Houston attorneys Kelly Frels and David Thompson. Back in the mid-‘70s when the Westheimer school district fight took place, Frels was a brilliant young attorney representing HISD in a high-stakes legal contest. The efforts of Frels and his colleagues were successful, and the Westheimer district issue all but disappeared into history.

The complete column from Glenn W. Smith is in the R&D Department.

By Glenn W. Smith