With the defeat of school choice during a fourth legislative session, GOP-controlled Texas remains an outlier as other red states embrace school choice.
The defeat of school choice in Texas was a self-inflicted wound, with 21 House Republicans joining all Democrats last week to defeat one of GOP Gov. Greg Abbott’s top priorities.
Texas is now one of the reddest states in the country without school choice, which is supported by most voters in the Lone Star State, according to several polls, while being opposed by teachers unions.
Six states—Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Utah—launched new universal programs in 2023.
Indiana and North Carolina also expanded their programs to include all students. Arizona and West Virginia already had universal school choice programs.
And Tennessee, which has Education Savings Accounts for low-to-moderate-income families in three counties, is expected to push to expand its program.
Mandy Drogin, campaign director for Next Generation Texas with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said Texas is lagging behind other states on an important parental rights issue.
“Thirty-one states across the United States have done this,” she said of school choice.
Parents need the option of removing their children from failing schools. They are tired of schools indoctrinating children on Critical Race Theory (CRT) or gender theories instead of educating them, she said.
School choice would encourage schools to focus on education instead of social justice, she said.
“We keep trying to legislate good teaching—high-quality education. You can’t legislate that, just like you can’t legislate a lot of things,” she said.
School choice passed the Texas Senate with ease but hit a brick wall in the House.
Texas Republican John Raney proposed an amendment to House Bill 1 (HB1) that has essentially killed school choice for now.
The 84-63 vote stripped education savings accounts from HB1, a public school funding bill allotting $7 billion in additional funding and giving $4,000 raises to Texas teachers.
The House failed to pass the remaining portion of the bill.
Issues in Debate
Steve Toth, a strong supporter of school choice, said he hopes the governor calls another special session to “end the injustice to poor kids” who are stuck in big-city schools where they often struggle to learn.
He pointed out that rural Republicans were in favor of a voucher system, yet their elected representatives helped kill it.
Some claimed the bill would hurt rural districts financially if students left.
But Mr. Toth tried to address those fears, saying that rural schools usually outperform urban ones. The bill would have also offered schools and teachers more money as part of the deal.
“Kids will not be leaving public schools in rural Texas,” Mr. Toth said. “And yet, these Representatives who are sold out to the teacher’s unions are saying no—it’s mind-numbingly stupid and selfish.”
Several organizations opposed the vouchers, fearing it would impact funding.
Texas American Federation of Teachers, affiliated with the national union headed by Randi Weingarten, applauded the demise of the Texas voucher bill.
In 2022, GOP voters overwhelmingly approved a school choice proposition to give parents the right to select their child’s schools, public or private, and for funding to follow the student.
Republicans Split
A total of 21 Republicans representatives voted to strip vouchers from the more extensive education bill. It remains to be seen if their vote will impact their political futures in the 2024 primaries.Those GOP House members who voted against school choice include state Reps. Steve Allison, Ernest Bailes, Keith Bell, DeWayne Burns, Travis Clardy, Drew Darby, Jay Dean, Charlie Geren, Justin Holland, Kyle Kacal, Ken King, John Kuempel, Stan Lambert, Andrew Murr, Four Price, John Raney, Glenn Rogers, Hugh Shine, Reggie Smith, Ed Thompson, and Gary VanDeaver.
On Nov. 20, Mr. Abbott announced endorsements for 58 House Republicans who opposed the amendment to kill the voucher bill.
“Our work for Texas parents and students is not done,” the governor said.
“I encourage Texans to join me in supporting them for reelection so we can pass school choice for all Texas families and continue to build a safer, brighter, and more prosperous Texas of tomorrow,” he said.
