The Texas Legislature has repeatedly rejected voucher programs that would use public funds to send children to private schools. Despite those clear statements of legislative intent, the Texas Education Agency seems determined to do exactly that. It has devised a pilot program to entice dropouts to private classrooms.

Voucher advocate Dr. James Leininger of San Antonio has contributed millions of dollars to the campaigns of many state officials, including Gov. Rick Perry, in order to win their support. He also bankrolled candidates to mount primary challenges to Republican legislators who refused to back vouchers. Despite Leininger's lobbying, the Legislature refuses to create a voucher pilot program. Now it appears that Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott is trying to slip the program through the backdoor.

Last year lawmakers created a program to get dropouts 25 and younger to return to the classroom to earn a high school diploma or prepare for college. Although the legislation intended that public schools provide the instruction, Scott issued a request for interested participants that included private schools operated by nonprofit groups.

At a hearing in Austin, lawmakers from both parties warned TEA officials that injecting the issue of state funding for private schools into the dropout program was a recipe for conflict. State Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, said the program was divisive and would "overshadow the job that needs to be done with the dropout issue in Texas."

Commissioner Scott pointed out that the money to fund the dropout program would not come from regular public school funding. State Rep. Diane Patrick, R-Arlington, rejected that rationale, correctly explaining that the grant dollars are coming from state general revenue.

She also detailed how voucher supporters could manipulate the dropout program by simply taking their children out of public school, having them classified as dropouts and then enrolling them at a private school that had applied for state funding.

The TEA has no right to institute a voucher program that the state's legislators have repeatedly rejected. If state funding for private schools becomes a feature of Texas education, it must be instituted by our elected representatives rather than agency bureaucrats.