A recent report by a right-leaning think tank argues that rural communities in Texas might have a lot to gain from school choice legislation ahead of an upcoming special session on the topic in the state legislature.
Education policy experts with The Heritage Foundation noted that data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress indicates that Texas schools in rural parts of the state have been on the decline for years now, calling testing results after the COVID-19 pandemic “nothing short of catastrophic.”
“Between 2007–2022, rural students in Texas saw … a 20-point decline in eighth-grade math vs. a 7-point decline nationally … [and] a 12-point decline in eighth-grade reading vs. a 4-point decline nationally. … [T]he current one-size-fits-all education system does not work in these rural communities, or anywhere else, causing academic performance to stagnate and even decline,” the report reads.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, school choice legislation has historically been held up in the Texas House by Democrats and a critical bloc of Republicans that represent rural districts.
“There is a group of Republican lawmakers who are otherwise very conservative in the ways that they vote, but who see this as a measure that would take money away from their communities’ public schools,” said Christy Rome, executive director of the anti-school choice organization Texas Schools Coalition, per The 74.
The Dallas Express spoke with Mandy Drogin, campaign director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s education initiative Next Generation Texas, about the dynamic in rural districts. She called the notion that rural public schools would lose out in a school choice scenario an “unfounded fear.”
“We can look across the country. One of the states that has some similarities to Texas is Florida, and we found that in about 20 years of having private school choice options that there was less than 4% growth [in private schools] in the rural counties in Florida, and that’s after 20 years,” Drogin said.
Texas public school enrollment has been declining in recent years, with some parents expressing concern over curricula and student achievement outcomes. Such concerns have led to increased enrollment at charter schools.
Such issues have been evident in the Dallas area. As previously reported by The Dallas Express, out of the 129 campuses in Dallas County that received a D letter grade in student achievement from the Texas Education Agency, 57 were in Dallas ISD, just over 44% of the total. Additionally, 38% of the schools in the county that received an F grade were in Dallas ISD.
Bob Popinski of Raise Your Hand Texas previously told the Houston Chronicle, “When you’re having enrollment declines, some school districts are going to have to really think hard about what campuses they’re going to keep open.”
Popinski further told the news outlet that the enactment of school choice policies would add a third player (private schools) into an already heated competition for students between traditional public schools and charter schools.
“Three separate systems would be a constant battle for appropriate and adequate funding,” he claimed, per the Houston Chronicle.
Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to call for a special session on school choice following Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial, having previously voiced his intention to sign legislation this year, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
“Every parent deserves choices about where they will send their child to school. All these parents know this isn’t a Republican issue, it’s not a Democrat issue. This is a civil rights issue,” Abbott previously said, according to the Texas Observer.
Polling suggests a majority of Texans support some kind of school choice legislation.
