On today’s Your Call Media Roundtable, I’ll be guest hosting to discuss the presidential election in Mexico.
Last Sunday, Claudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, won the election with nearly 60 percent of the vote, according to a rapid sample count by Mexico’s electoral authority.
Her party, the ruling Morena party, founded by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, will control two-thirds of both chambers of the national Congress and 24 of Mexico’s 32 governorships. Joining us to get the latest will be Alfredo Corchado, executive editor of the Puente News Collaborative.
Then in the second half of the show, we’ll discuss a Washington Post investigation that reveals how billions in US taxpayer dollars are paying for private-school tuition at conservative religious schools. Almost five million private school students are benefiting from vouchers.
The programs, popular with conservatives, are rapidly growing in GOP-run states, with a total of 29 states plus DC operating some sort of voucher system, according to the investigation. Eight states created or expanded voucher programs last year, and this year, Alabama, Georgia and Missouri have approved or expanded voucher-type programs. Some recently enacted plans are just starting to take effect or will be phased in over the next few years.
- Ohio: This year, more than 150,000 Ohio students are using vouchers, with 91 percent attending religious schools.
- Wisconsin: About 55,000 vouchers were given this school year with 96 percent attending religious schools.
- Indiana: About 98 percent of vouchers go to religious schools.
- Florida: This year, 400,000 students participated, with at least 82 percent of them attending religious schools. Florida has the largest voucher program with a cost of $3 billion this year alone.
- Arizona: More than 75,000 students are benefiting from the Empowerment Scholarship Program, which pays for any educational expense. 87 percent of $229 million that was spent for that program in 2022-2023 went to religious schools.
Our guest will be Laura Meckler, national education writer at the Washington Post.
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 10am PT. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
