Texas Governor Greg Abbott spent the last month reaffirming his desire to pass school choice in the upcoming legislative session, a topic that has become one of the most widely debated in the Lone Star State.
Although the governor has pushed for the passing of school choice legislation in the past, he now believes the correct members of the Texas House of Representatives have been elected to make this hope a reality.
Abbott said he believes roughly 79 House members are “hardcore school choice proponents,” which exceeds the minimum of 76 votes needed to pass a bill in the Texas House, per The Texas Tribune.
Abbott made an appearance in Tyler, Texas, a few weeks ago and said he would work to pass the legislation in the state, adding that “School choice is wanted by all demographic groups in the state of Texas.”
“Hispanics and African Americans in the state of Texas, they strongly support school choice. Those parents want an option. They know their child better than any government employee does, and they want to put their child on the pathway toward success. School choice improves educational opportunities for minority and low-income students. Texas is going to make sure they have that opportunity,” said the governor, according to a news release.
James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project, said those who support school choice have “a lot of reasons to be optimistic” following the election.
“I still think the details are yet to be determined. And how firm all of that support is, again, depending on what the particulars are is yet to be seen. But overall, I think there are reasons, if you are a school choice advocate, to be optimistic that something is going to happen this time,” he said, per CBS Austin.
However, some members of the Texas government have voiced disapproval of the potential legislation, with Rep. Mihaela Plesa (D-Dallas) saying the Democrats have “beat vouchers five times” and plan to do it again.
“We have shown him five times this is something that the people of the state of Texas do not want … and we’ll show him again next session,” she said, as reported by WFAA.
Rep. James Talarico (D-Round Rock) said he expects school choice to be the “number one issue in the next legislative session,” noting that the “majority of Texans, according to the latest polling, reject private school voucher scams.”
“A majority of the counties in the State of Texas don’t have a single private school in them and the cost of the voucher doesn’t even cover the full cost of tuition at most private schools in Texas, so working-class families, like the ones in my district, or my former students on the west side of San Antonio, they can’t take advantage of this voucher scam, and so instead the vast majority of the money will end up going to wealthy families who are already sending their kids to private school,” he added, per Fox 7 Austin.
The 89th Texas Legislative regular session is currently scheduled to begin on January 14, 2025, and run until June 2, 2025, though it has also become common for special sessions to be called, extending the meeting period for Texas lawmakers.