Abbott will champion school choice
Vouchers for parents are likely set to take center stage in his State of the State address
Gov. Greg Abbott has left little doubt he’s going to make expanded school choice — and private school vouchers — a key piece of his State of the State address on Thursday.
For the last two weeks, Abbott has telegraphed in speeches from Corpus Christi to Denton that he’s determined to have Texas follow other states like Iowa, Arizona and Utah that in the last seven months have all expanded school choice programs to allow parents to take funding from public schools and apply it to private schools.
“Parents should not be helpless,” Abbott said in a speech in Corpus Christi earlier this month. “They should be able to choose the education option that is best for their child.”
He delivered a similar message in Denton on Friday night, telling a Republican audience that he’s going to push for expanded school choice in Texas, despite decades of the issue getting little traction in the Legislature.
The State of the State address is typically a time for governors to tout past accomplishments and outline priorities for the legislative session. In speeches around the state, Abbott has already provided plenty of hints about that upcoming agenda. It includes pushing for more border security measures, cutting property taxes, and getting tough on what he’s called “easy bail” policies that he blames for putting too many criminals back on the street.
But during his re-election campaign and recent speeches, Abbott has made it clear a major priority will be taking his most serious shot yet at passing some form of private school vouchers, an effort that past
Texas governors like George W. Bush and Rick Perry, both Republicans, pushed for but failed to get through the Legislature.
There is still vast opposition in the Texas House, particularly from lawmakers in rural communities where public schools are big employers and centers of the community, with few if any private school options for children. Teachers unions and other public school advocates have warned voucher programs risk taking money away from schools at a time they need more.
But despite that opposition, Abbott has a national wind at his back with Iowa, Arizona and Utah all passing school voucher programs recently. Arkansas and Oklahoma are both considering similar efforts as more GOP governors make the issue a priority.
Expanded ESA plans
Abbott has said at-home learning early in the pandemic was an eye-opener for parents who saw up close how their public schools were operating and what their kids were being taught.
Many parents are more receptive to school choice ideas now, he contends.
To get it done, Abbott has already started touting the idea of Educational Savings Accounts, like those recently adopted in Iowa. Texas already has educational savings accounts to help parents of special needs students get tutoring and other supplemental help. He said in his speech in Corpus Christi that he wants Texas to expand the use of ESAS, allowing parents to take their child’s per-student allotment that goes to public schools and use it to go to another school, or toward tuition for a private school.
This year, of 53 bills on school choice that have been filed in the nation, more than half are based on ESAS, according to the American Federation for Children, a private school voucher advocacy group.
Patrick: ‘This is the year’
Abbott already has big support for private school vouchers in the Texas Senate, where Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has again declared school choice one of his top priorities.
In 2017, the Senate passed a school choice bill, but it died in the House.
Both chambers have to pass identical bills for legislation to make it to Abbott’s desk and be signed into law.
On a conference call with the Republican Party of Texas last week, Patrick said he feels this is the year they finally break through on the issue.
“This is the year we pass school choice,” he said.
Advocates of vouchers say having Abbott more engaged on the topic this year makes all the difference in the world. While he’s talked about the issue for years, he’s failed to call for any expanded school choice in either of his last two State of the State addresses.