Texas Gov. Greg Abbott traveled to the Athens Christian Preparatory Academy on Tuesday night to express his support for implementing school choice in the Lone Star State. The event, which was held in the school gymnasium, drew a crowd of roughly 200 people.
Abbott explained that he believes parents should be in charge of where their children attend school.
“It is parents who are in charge of the children. Parents must be empowered to choose a school that’s best for their child. The way to do that is through school choice with education savings accounts,” he said, according to NBC 5 DFW.
These comments come shortly after the governor gave his State of the State address and announced that he was making school choice an emergency item for the 89th Legislative Session.
“An overwhelming majority of Texans support expanding school choice to all Texas families—including Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and people across rural, urban, and suburban Texas,” Abbott wrote in a release.
“And over 30 states already have school choice programs. When it comes to education, parents matter, and families deserve to choose the best education opportunities for their children.”
Texas lawmakers are now expected to discuss Senate Bill 2 on February 5, which sets aside $1 billion for education savings accounts.
This bill would provide most students with $10,000, while students with disabilities would receive $11,500 to help pay for tuition at private schools.
Although many Republicans have voiced their support for school choice, with the expectation that SB 2 will pass the Republican-controlled Senate, many Democratic officials have spoken out against these bills.
“Voucher programs are a false promise that leave all our students behind. Instead of funding a broken system that benefits a select few. We must invest in the public schools that serve all our children,” said Rep. Rhetta Bowers (D-Rowlett), according to Fox 7 Austin.
Similarly, Rep. James Talarico (D-Round Rock) criticized Abbott for the lack of support presented to public schools, noting that the governor has shifted his views.
“Six years ago, Greg Abbott showed up at the school behind me, Parmer Lane Elementary. He held a press conference with lots of cameras and promised to invest in public schools like this one. Now, this school behind me is at risk of closing because Greg Abbott has refused to invest a penny of new funding into our public schools, since 2019,” he explained, per Fox 7.
On the other hand, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said, “There’s no way we’re undermining public education” by passing SB 2 and the intention is to improve the education opportunities for every student.”
“We didn’t take this money out of the education fund. It’s a new fund we created, so it didn’t come away from public education. We’re fully funding public education,” Patrick continued, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.