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Just hours after the Texas Senate approved its priority school voucher bill, Gov. Greg Abbott said he would add teacher raises and public school funding to his special session agenda if the Texas Legislature passes vouchers.
During a parental rights event hosted by the conservative think tank Texas Public Policy Foundation, Abbott addressed his education agenda for the special session. So far, he has only included education savings accounts, a program similar to vouchers, in his plans. However, there is already a bill on public school funding drafted by lawmakers, which has also been approved by the Senate. This bill can only pass if Abbott includes it in his agenda. Both the school vouchers and funding bills will now proceed to the Texas House.
Abbott expressed his desire to offer an incentive to ensure the successful passage of vouchers, stating, “I want to ensure that we offer a carrot to guarantee the approval of this legislation.” He also mentioned that if education savings accounts are approved, he plans to prioritize full funding for public education on the legislative agenda, which would encompass salary increases for teachers throughout the state.
During the regular session, lawmakers failed to pass a number of policies to support teachers amid a standoff over school vouchers. The stalemate came despite policy recommendations to better teachers’ working conditions from a task force assembled by Abbott last year to examine the state’s worsening teacher shortage.
Teachers were the only state employees to not receive a raise in the regular session and have said they feel their raises are being “held hostage” to a vouchers bill. Many have said they’d prefer to forgo a salary bump than see school vouchers implemented in the state.
During the summit, Abbott, who appeared on stage near the Texas Capitol, expressed his belief that the House is very close to passing education savings accounts, referring to it as being at the “one-yard line.” In the past, a coalition comprising of Democrats and rural Republicans has consistently impeded the progress of voucher legislation in the House.
According to Abbott, the governor’s office has been collaborating with a group of House Republicans to create a voucher bill that is currently 181 pages long, even before the special session.
He added, “I am determined to persist until we achieve success in the state of Texas.”
During the daylong event, a number of Republican representatives who support vouchers presented strategies for successfully passing the proposed bill in the House.
Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls, said previous legislation has failed because voucher opponents, particularly teachers and superintendents, are “highly motivated” to stop the program.
Frank expressed that there are Republicans who are reluctant to vote against the school, principal, and superintendent due to fear. He emphasized that these individuals hold significant influence in every district across the state, making it politically unwise to oppose them. Personally, Frank admitted his discomfort in going against them.
According to Frank, he has discussed with rural representatives who claim that there are either no private schools in their district or that they are more costly than the suggested $8,000 voucher. However, Frank believes that if residents had the means to afford private schools, the market would react by creating schools that align better with their budgets. He expressed his support for a voucher amounting to around $10,000 to better match the average expenses of private schools in Texas.
To garner public support for vouchers, Rep. Ellen Troxclair, R-Lakeway, said advocates need to frame the program as giving taxpayers who opt out of the public school system their dollars back. Voucher opponents have often voiced concerns that an education savings account program would siphon away public school funds.
Troxclair said that yesterday a superintendent questioned her about supporting the allocation of public funds to private schools. She responded by stating that she disagreed with the underlying assumption of the question, as she believed that the funds being discussed actually belonged to the parents themselves.
Disclosure: Texas Public Policy Foundation has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
