The Dallas Express is shining a light on a key Texas House primary race that could, in part, determine the fate of school choice in the Lone Star State next legislative session.
The Republican primary for House District 7, which represents Gregg, Harrison, and Marion counties, will see incumbent Rep. Jay Dean (R-Longview) face off against Kilgore native and businessman Joe McDaniel.
Dean previously served as mayor of Longview for 10 years and has represented House District 7 since he was first elected to the post in 2017.
Last year, he voted to strip a school choice component to an education funding bill, effectively helping to kill the measure.
While speaking about school choice in November, Dean claimed he would remain “open-minded” but expressed skepticism about the proposed policy.
“You can’t have a universal type [of school choice program] because it runs out of money in a couple of years,” he claimed, per the Longview News-Journal.
“What happens when you run out of money? You go find money. Where do bureaucrats normally go to find money? You raise taxes. I’m a fiscal conservative. We have $500 million set aside for this so-called program. If we open this thing up to any and everybody, this thing cannot sustain itself financially. The money is just not there,” he said.
McDaniel, however, has said that he is in favor of school choice in Texas, stating on his campaign website that parents should be able to decide what is best for their children when it comes to education.
“Joe McDaniel champions parental rights and supports school choice initiatives, believing that parents should have a say in their children’s education and the ability to choose the best educational path for them,” reads the website.
In announcing his candidacy, McDaniel claimed that Dean’s legislative record last year “failed” his district, noting that in addition to voting to kill school choice, he also voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to KETK.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who endorsed McDaniel, said in December he believes in the candidate because he is “a true conservative fighter.”
“From school choice to securing the border, from protecting our kids to protecting our rights, I have faith in Joe,” Miller said in a social media post.
Although Gov. Greg Abbott has yet to make an endorsement for House District 7, he has been incredibly vocal about his support for school choice. The governor endorsed every incumbent House Republican who voted in favor of school choice last year and has been throwing his support behind pro-school choice challengers, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
While polling indicates broad support for school choice in Texas, officials at multiple public school districts in House District 7 have spoken out against the notion of allowing families to use taxpayer money to pay for expenses related to private school or homeschooling.
Jefferson ISD school board trustees passed a resolution in April 2023 denouncing school choice legislation that was under consideration by the Texas Legislature at the time, claiming that “[a]ny funding sent to this program takes away funding from public schools and prioritizes other systems,” per the Marion County Herald & Jefferson Jimplecute.
Trustees from both Marshall ISD and Longview ISD have also expressed opposition to school choice. Marshall ISD trustees voted unanimously in November to adopt and sign a letter against HB 1, which would have created optional education savings accounts for Texas families.
Marshall Superintendent Richele Langley said that the district was hoping “to be the voice for 62 thousand students in East Texas,” according to The Marshall News Messenger. These viewpoints were also expressed by trustees from Longview ISD, who unanimously voted to approve a resolution in opposition to school choice.
In a previous interview with The Dallas Express, Mandy Drogin, campaign director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, claimed that the argument that school choice would result in defunding public schools was misleading since state taxpayer spending on education is tied to the individual student and some public schools would ostensibly be responsible for teaching fewer students.
“I think more and more representatives, more and more parents, more and more Texans realize that there is not a downside to this and we need to put control back in the hands of parents where it belongs,” Drogin said.