Recently I wrote about the growing demand for school choice in many states. (School Choice Demand Growing) New or expanded school choice programs were legislated in Indiana, Florida, Arizona, West Virginia, Iowa, and Arkansas to name just a few. This movement has grown in popularity as low-income families of all races come to recognize that school choice is the key to escaping poor-performing public schools, especially in large cities. And everyone knows that a good education is the key to escaping poverty.
Most of this school choice movement has happened in red states as Republicans support school choice, but most Democrats support teachers unions, who oppose school choice. But one red state has notably lagged behind this movement – the state of Texas. Since Texas is a red state, controlled by Republicans in the state house and the governor’s mansion, you might wonder what’s behind their opposition.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board tells us that Texas has no school choice program for its more than five million K-12 students. While Texas Governor Greg Abbott is a strong supporter of school choice, his Republican legislature is not. The reason is the rural nature of much of Texas. It seems that rural Republican legislators believe rural students won’t benefit from school choice because they have no options beyond their current district schools. They believe that rural district schools will be devastated if students use Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) and leave for alternative schools that don’t currently exist.
Stop and think about what I just said. They worry that students will use ESAs to leave for alternative schools that don’t exist. In other words, they have nothing to worry about! But if ESAs inspire new school options in the future, then rural students would benefit like those in cities and suburbs.
Governor Abbot has determined this is a fight worth having. He has called the state legislature into a 30-day special session starting this week and ESAs are a priority. “I am hopeful that we will be able to put together a package that will allow ESAs to get passed in the first special session,” he said on a recent visit to the Journal. If it doesn’t, “I can call another one right after it, which is what my game plan is to do. I can play this game longer than they can play this game.”By “they” he means Members of the Texas House, chiefly Republicans representing rural districts, who stonewalled efforts to pass ESAs this spring. The state Senate passed a bill to provide ESAs worth $8,000 each to most students, but the House never voted on it.
The problem is not money. Texas public school have some $5 billion in funding if the Legislature passes the ESAs, and a chunk of this money is to raise teacher pay. Lawmakers have options to attract votes in the special session, such as passing a bill with universal eligibility that starts with a limited dollar amount in the first year. Representative Jacey Jetton announced a bill that would provide universal ESAs but put low-income and special-needs students first in line.
Should House Members continue to balk, Gov. Abbott has another point of leverage: Primary elections next spring. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds set an example in 2022 by endorsing primary challengers to legislators who opposed school choice, and she defeated several. Iowa passed universal ESAs this year, and Gov. Abbott has suggested he might do the same.
“If we don’t win [in a special session] then I think it’s time to send this to the voters themselves to vote in the primaries,” the Governor told the Texas Public Policy Foundation, KENS5 reported. “We will have everything teed up in a way where we will be giving voters in a primary a choice. They can choose someone who supports school choice or they can support someone who is against school choice.”
A 2022 GOP primary ballot question found 88% of voters support parents’ “right to select schools, whether public or private, for their children, and the funding should follow the student.” A University of Texas at Austin poll in August found that 52% of Texas registered voters support school vouchers, ESAs, or another school choice program, including 61% who live in rural areas.
School choice is growing in demand and it’s time everyone got on board. It will benefit everyone in the long run – except may be the teachers unions.