AUSTIN, Texas — Speaking to hundreds of conservatives at a policy summit on Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott talked about his plan to send public tax dollars to private schools—which he says will have positive on the state’s education system.
“Texas must rank number one for educating our kids, and school choice is a path to achieving that goal,” said Abbott.
Earlier this week, Abbott stopped at private schools in Athens and San Antonio, where he was joined by Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, and the two launched a full-court press to get a school vouchers plan passed.
“The Texas House will vote to give you that freedom, and Gov. Abbott will be signing that bill into law in June,” said Burrows.
In front of a larger crowd on Wednesday, Abbott dispelled what he described as myths about his education savings account proposal.
Abbott rattled off a list of 26 small Texas towns that he says all have private schools. That list was in response to the concern that students in rural areas won’t have a place to spend their vouchers and that rural public schools will be drained of funding because of a decrease in overall education funding.
“Supply will create demand. If we are able to establish school choice, we’ll have far more schools out there available,” said Abbott.
One education policy professor says not all alternatives to public schools may offer the best educational outcomes for students.
“You don’t need to be a certified teacher. You don’t need to have evidence-based special education programs. You don’t have to follow state curriculum. You don’t have to take state tests. And so, fly-by-night operators looking to turn a quick buck, or citizens that just think they could do a better job. They can just open a school,” said David DeMatthews, a professor of educational leadership and policy at the University of Texas at Austin.
Abbott says private schools don’t need to be held to the same standard as public schools.
“The reality is the purpose of school choice isn’t to be a duplicate of the public education that a family wants to leave. It’s to provide an alternative to that education program,” he said.
Austin-area Democractic Rep. Gina Hinojosa finds this line of thinking concerning.
“If any student in the state of Texas is having their education paid for with taxpayer dollars, then they should also have to take the STAAR tests or whatever accountability measures are required,” said Hinojosa.
Abbott believes the questions he gets from Texans suggest they support vouchers. Hinojosa disagrees.
“They believe that we should be investing the property tax dollars that we send to Austin into our neighborhood schools,” she said.
Abbott didn’t explicitly say vouchers will pass this session, but he claims he has enough Republican support in the House to make it happen.
Abbott believes the questions he gets from Texans suggest they support vouchers. Hinojosa disagrees.
“They believe that we should be investing the property tax dollars that we send to Austin into our neighborhood schools,” she said.
Abbott didn’t explicitly say vouchers will pass this session, but he claims he has enough Republican support in the House to make it happen.
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