AUSTIN, Texas—Soon after lawmakers gaveled out of the third special session this year, Gov. Greg Abbott called lawmakers back to the Capitol to get to work on his priority legislation. He’s pushed lawmakers to pass a voucher program for more than a year, but so far they could not deliver. A voucher program would allow parents to use public school dollars to send their child to private school.
“Gov. Abbott is failing, right? And ‘no’ is ‘no.’ Republicans and Democrats, a long time ago, said we are not going to support vouchers,” said Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio.
Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Killeen, has written an omnibus education bill that some members of his party support. It makes a significant increase to public school funding and adds in accountability measures for students taking part in the voucher program.
“It’s a better, cleaner piece of legislation,” said Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls. “At the end of the day, I think what Chairman Buckley and what we’re trying to do is basically make sure we help all kids in the state of Texas. That we give parents options, which parents should have options to how to educate their kid. That’s better for everyone, including schools.”
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The Texas House has historically rejected vouchers, with rural Republicans joining Democrats to fight against any program that would take money away from public schools. Most rural areas don’t have private schools, but one representative whose rural district does says he’ll support the new bill.
“I get in trouble from both sides because I think the parents have the ultimate right to do what they think is in the best interests of their child, whether that’s their physical safety or the best education they can possibly get,” said Rep. Stan Kitzman, R-Pattison. “But at the same time, I’m not anti-public school. I come from a public school. I taught in the public school.”
It remains unclear if there are enough votes in the House to pass the measure, but Democrats say most of their rural Republican colleagues are sticking with them to oppose it.
“Our bipartisan majority for public schools is strong and united heading into the next special session,” said Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin.
While the Senate has passed two different voucher bills this year, the full House has yet to vote on one. If lawmakers don’t act fast, they could work through Thanksgiving.