Texas officials in favor of school choice legislation are signaling they will make the subject an issue during primary season to boost support for the policy among Republican state lawmakers.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, some 21 Republicans in the Texas House voted last week with Democrats to remove a measure from an education spending bill that would have established education savings accounts.
Polling indicates broad support for school choice across most racial, political, and geographical demographics in Texas, and the Republican lawmakers who voted to kill school choice may have made themselves targets within their party.
“What’s important is that we have, at least on the Republican side, Republicans who are voting consistent with where their constituents are,” said Gov. Greg Abbott at a Thanksgiving event Thursday morning, per CBS Austin. “We want to have representatives whose constituents by more than 80% support school vouchers. We want those representatives to be voting in favor of it. And we will be working to achieve just that.”
Abbott had previously declared he would call repeated special legislative sessions until the Texas House and Senate agreed on a school choice policy. However, the governor has reportedly not stated explicitly that he would convene a fifth special session once the fourth ends.
Some school choice advocates have more forcefully laid out the intra-party state of play, suggesting tensions over the issue among Republican state legislators are boiling over.
“Many of us are so resolute on this that we’re going to break caucus rules, and we’re gonna support primary challengers,” Rep. Steve Toth (R-The Woodlands) claimed, according to The Texas Tribune.
Some lawmakers are looking to make a last-ditch effort at passing a school choice bill by separating it from the broader education spending bill, which includes taxpayer funding for teacher raises.
“We want to make this as plain and simple as possible. Here’s what the education saving account portion … looks like, and start the discussion there,” said Rep. Jacey Jetton (R-Katy), arguing that linking the two legislative items sidetracked lawmakers, per Fox 7.
He told the news outlet he filed a bill, HB 115, that would do just that.
“I think just this week we’re going to have some time to kind of let the dust settle a little bit with Thanksgiving and enjoy some time with our families. And, you know, next week we’ll be back up in Austin,” he said.
He went on to advocate for school choice, arguing, “When you put the government in control of pay, it can only go to their school, based on your zip code or geographical location. … That’s not … freedom.”
Still, some state officials are looking to primary season to sort out the matter. Abbott seemingly made a point of doing so when he endorsed the 58 House Republicans who voted against Rep. John Raney’s (R-Bryan) amendment to remove school choice from the education spending bill.
“Proud to endorse 58 Texas House Republicans for re-election in 2024. I encourage Texans to join me in supporting these strong conservatives so we can deliver school choice for every family in Texas,” the governor posted on social media.