Gov. Greg Abbott Puts Political Strength Behind School Choice Supporters

The Texas governor aims to unseat Republicans who blocked education savings funds from the omnibus education bill last year.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks about border security during a campaign stop endorsing state Rep. Ben Bumgarner in Roanoke, Texas, on Feb. 13, 2024. Jana J. Pruet/The Epoch Times

ROANOKE, Texas—Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is making campaign stops across the state ahead of the March primary in an attempt to unseat incumbent lawmakers who blocked school choice, one of his top priorities last year.

On Tuesday, Mr. Abbott made a stop in Roanoke, where he endorsed school choice supporter and Republican state Rep. Ben Bumgarner, who is facing two opponents in the upcoming primary. Republicans Carlos Andino Jr. and Vincent Gallo are vying to replace Mr. Bumgarner on the November ballot.

The governor spent about 20 minutes addressing some of the measures passed last year, including immigration, border security, and laws prohibiting males from competing in women’s sports, along with his goal to pass school choice.

“There’s another problem not too far from where we gather here today,” Mr. Abbott told a crowd of about 500 who packed the Soul Fire Brewery Company in the small Denton County community.

“The Dallas Independent School District has issued a resource guide to families in DISD letting them know how students in DISD can change their gender from a boy to a girl or a girl to a boy,” he continued, adding that schools should be focused on teaching students to read and write and do math and science.

“One thing that Ben agrees with me on, and that is that our schools are for education—not indoctrinating our kids,” Mr. Abbott said. “This is just one of many reasons why I strongly support empowering parents with a God-given right to choose the school that is best for their child.”

Some Republicans Against Vouchers

After months of lobbying for education savings accounts, also known as vouchers, Mr. Abbott failed to get enough support from the Republican-controlled House to pass legislation that would allow parents to use public school funds for their child’s private or homeschool education. He continued his push during two of the four special sessions he called.

During the fourth special session in November, Republican state Rep. John Raney offered an amendment to remove vouchers from House Bill 1, the omnibus public education measure. Mr. Raney is not seeking reelection.

“I believe in my heart that using taxpayer dollars to fund an entitlement program is not conservative, and it’s bad public policy,” said Mr. Raney on the House floor in November.

School choice supporters argue that parents of all income levels should be able to choose the best education for their child’s needs.

“The rich in Texas have school choice. Poor Texans do not,” Rep. Brian Harrison said, adding that the “amendment is a slap in the face to the voters who elected us.”

Still, House Republicans were unable to get all of the holdouts on board. During the final session, 21 Republicans voted along with all Democrats on the anti-voucher amendment in a vote of 84–63, chopping the governor’s top legislative priority from the bill.

Mr. Abbott had vowed to keep calling Texas lawmakers back to Austin for special sessions if they did not pass school choice legislation, but he has since changed tactics.

The governor is putting his political strength behind House candidates who supported school choice, including Mr. Bumgarner, and Republican primary candidates who are running against those who voted against school vouchers.

“We’re looking at the polls. They look great,” Mr. Abbott said in a short interview following his speech. “Things are strongly in our favor, and we’re just going to work hard all the way through [the] election.”

Incumbents on Defense

Republican state Reps. Gary VanDeaver and Drew Darby, who both voted for the anti-voucher amendment, are now running political ads defending their stance.

“Last year, I stopped a bill that would have handed out school vouchers—your tax dollars—to illegal immigrants,” Mr. VanDeaver says in his TV ad. “Border security is about more than just walls. It’s all about the incentive which encourages illegal crossings in the first place.”

In a similar ad, Mr. Darby says school vouchers would be “free handouts offered to illegal immigrants.”

“That’s why I stopped the recent school voucher scheme,” he says in his ad.

When asked about the claims in the ads, the governor said federal law requires the state to fund public education for all children, regardless of legal status.

“The fact of the matter is, all of them have used state money to support public education for illegal immigrants,” Mr. Abbott said.

In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Plyer v. Doe, prohibiting any state from denying free public education to any child, regardless of their legal status.

“So they’re just a bunch of hypocrites,” Mr. Abbott continued. “They should be ashamed of doing some gimmick like that, and Texans are smarter than that.”

He went on to say that his goal is to improve education “for all Texans” with an “all-together package” that includes $6 billion more for funding education, raises for teachers, and ending the STARR academic achievement test.

The Texas primary will be held March 5.