A Democrat Texas State Rep’s signature being added to a school choice bill has recently prompted more questions than answers.
The incident began when Corey DeAngelis, aka “the school choice evangelist,” posted on X a screenshot of a list of cosponsors for HB 3, a bill related to establishing an education savings account program.
DeAngelis’s March 25 post read, “BREAKING: A Democrat just signed on to the universal school choice bill in Texas. The bill now has 77 cosponsors in the House. 76 Republicans and 1 Democrat. Texas will pass universal school choice this year.”
State Rep. Liz Campo (D-San Antonio) responded, “I am 100% in opposition to voucher scams. It has been brought to my attention that the House website lists my name on HB3. It must be a clerical issue that will be rectified first thing in the morning.” She also posted an image that read, “NO VOUCHERS. NO BRIBES. NO DEAL.”
After Campos posted her message, DeAngelis posted a screenshot and hammered her for opposing school choice, stating, “UPDATE: Democrat @VoteLizCampos supports the scam of trapping kids in failing government schools.”
Luke Macias, a self-described conservative activist and realtor, hit back at Campos the following day with a photo of a signature log for HB, adding, “Guys. Either someone forged @VoteLizCampos’s signature or this was NOT a clerical error.”
Campos has not posted about the issue directly on social media again. However, she has reposted messages from Democratic accounts rallying to her defense. This has included “Thank you @VoteLizCampos for always standing up for all types of public schools! #txlege,” from Democrats for Education Reform-Texas.
She also reposted a message from Texas House Democrats that read, “Voucher scams defund our neighborhood schools, cause out-of-control state spending, and result in worse educational outcomes for students. @VoteLizCampos and all Texas House Democrats are proudly united against vouchers. #txlege”
‘School Choice’ is a term for a set of programs that introduce more free market forces into public education. It can be achieved through education savings accounts and vouchers, as well as various other means.
Gov. Greg Abbott supports school choice, and the program has been widely reported to be a major focus of this year’s state legislative session.
The Dallas Express hosted a forum on school choice in February that drew a variety of anti and pro-school choice perspectives. School choice opponent Lynn Davenport asked why we would “run [tax dollars] through the same government that broke the system?”
Davenport explained that her vision for public education would eliminate the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the federal Department of Education and leave education decisions to local school districts.
DeAngelis also liked the idea of abolishing the TEA and the Department of Education but countered that he wanted the education system to resemble the vision laid out by American economist Milton Friedman. He also said that he wanted to fund “students, not systems” by tagging education funds to students and letting parents decide which institution, public or private, most deserved their taxpayer dollars.