School vouchers, rising in GOP states, founder in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas — Gary VanDeaver describes himself as a conservative less than a minute into many conversations. The Texas state representative blames “unelected federal judges” for imposing gay marriage on America and has been endorsed by anti-abortion groups and the National Rifle Association.

But when it comes to one centerpiece conservative initiative — allowing tax-subsidized vouchers for students to enroll in private schools — VanDeaver says absolutely no way.

“In my district, public school is the community,” said VanDeaver, of New Boston, a town about 25 miles from the Arkansas border where the Lions high school football stadium has 3,500 seats, nearly enough for every resident.

“If we do anything to pull those students away, then we’re harming those communities,” said VanDeaver, 58, after joining an overwhelming majority of the GOP-dominated state House this month to reject school vouchers.

With Republicans controlling two-thirds of state legislatures, as well as the White House and Congress, expectations among conservatives are soaring that the time for a “school choice” revolution has finally arrived — that vouchers will become available widely rather than only in limited experiments. President Donald Trump even included $1.4 billion in federal funding for school choice in his proposed budget.

Nationally, 27 states now permit public money to flow to private schools, and expansive proposals are making headway in many statehouses. Arizona recently approved them for all students, which supporters say will force schools to be more competitive and give families more freedom.

But Texas is resisting, not only dragging its feet but actively combatting the movement. The House has defeated voucher plans in the last three sessions and helped derail 50-plus since the 1990s.

Texas is one of just seven states with Republicancontrolled Legislatures and governorships that have stonewalled private school choice — and many others are small and rural, such as North Dakota and Wyoming.

Leaders of the school choice movement are stumped by the rebuff since Texas usually leads the nation in driving the conservative agenda. They have vowed to spend money and recruit primary challengers to defeat anti-school choice legislators.

“Texas is hailed to be this conservative, deep red state but you look across the country where we have school choice programs and it’s places like Indiana and Ohio and Wisconsin,” said Randan Steinhauser, co-founder of the pro-school choice group Texans for Education Opportunity. “It’s really frustrating.”

Steinhauser worked in Washington for Betsy DeVos, the outspoken school choice advocate who is now Trump’s education secretary. She thought she could advance the cause after returning to her native state four years ago: “I was kind of naive thinking, ‘Oh yeah, we’ll get it done, no problem,’” Steinhauser said. “I was shocked.”

The issue lays bare the ideological split between a high-profile tier of conservative activists and more traditional Republicans seeking to safeguard heartland values.