Texas House rejects school choice proposal; Gov. Greg Abbott vows to keep fighting

A school choice proposal by the Texas House's education chairman was dealt a possibly fatal blow Friday after a bipartisan coalition in the lower chamber voted 84-63 to strip the education savings account program out of the $7.6 billion education funding bill.

Twenty-one Republicans joined Democrats in cutting out the school choice portion of the bill, which proposed to make public funding available to students for private schooling. The House then referred the legislation — House Bill 1 — back to the House Education Committee, effectively removing it from the full chamber's hands.

Asked whether he planned to take up the bill before or after Thanksgiving, Rep. Brad Buckley, the bill's author and education committee chairman, said "No."

"I think the vote today was very, very clear," Buckley said.

Gov. Greg Abbott, who has invested significant political capital in school choice, didn't appear to be backing down.

"I will continue advancing school choice in the Texas Legislature and at the ballot box, and will maintain the fight for parent empowerment until all parents can choose the best education path for their child," Abbott said in a statement to the American-Statesman. "I am in it to win it."

Abbott insisted the "vast majority" of Texans and House Republicans support school choice.

"The small minority of pro-union Republicans in the Texas House who voted with the Democrats will not derail the outcome that their voters demand," Abbott said.

Buckley’s bill proposed an education savings account program that would make $10,500 available annually for each eligible student to use for private schooling, and it would prioritize low-income and special education children.

The bill also would invest billions in traditional districts, including raising per-student funding by $540 — from $6,160 to $6,700 — increasing teacher pay and creating teacher mentorship programs. The bill would also tie per-student funding and teacher raises to inflationary adjustments.

School choice, also called school vouchers or educations savings accounts, has divided the Republican Party over the past year. Rural Republicans have bucked state leadership in opposing such proposals. Since last fall, Gov. Greg Abbott has thrown his political weight behind school choice, and even called on religious leaders to advocate for it from the pupils.

School choice opponents worry that a voucher program would drain funds from traditional public school districts.

Members who voted against HB 1 got assurances Friday from House leadership that the bill wouldn't come back to the full House for a vote during this 30-day special session, said Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin.

"I think that vote was resounding," Talarico said. "I think it shows where the Texas House stands and I don't see that changing any time soon."

Temperatures ran high during the bill's debate on the House floor. Buckley, R-Killeen, insisted the bill would offer critical schooling choices to parents and students, but several Republicans opposed to the bill because of its cost.

Rep. John Raney, R-Bryan, tried to remove the school choice portion of the bill through an amendment because he worried about the financial implication, he said.

“It is going to break the state of Texas when this thing reaches its maximum use,” Raney said.

Buckley said that though parents have options to take their children to other schools, those choices don’t meet the needs of every student, especially those who have special needs.

“What our system doesn't contemplate is a system when all those options still continue to fall short of what parents want for their child,” Buckley said.

Buckley pushed back on the idea that the debate around school choice was a public school versus private school issue. “I reject that premise,” he said.

The debate Friday afternoon was almost exclusively between Republicans and passions grew hot, with outbursts among members and debaters talking over each other.

Claims that private schools won’t address the needs of students are false, said Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco.

“The misinformation about what it means and the fake news that I've seen all over social media about what this is — it drives me insane,” Patterson said.

Rep. Glenn Rogers, R-Graford, worried private schools could reject children with special education or other disciplinary needs.

“It would be naive to believe that ESAs would help underserved communities or low-income families or children with disabilities,” Rogers said.

This spring, Abbott toured private schools across Texas to push school choice and when lawmakers snubbed their noses at such a proposal during the regular session, he called them back for two additional special sessions to focus on passing an education savings account program.

After several rural Republican lawmakers balked at advancing a school choice bill, Abbott threatened to rally behind their opponents in primary elections, which will be held in March.

Buckley’s proposed bill would cost almost $7.6 billion over two years.

As per the bill’s fiscal analysis, the cost of the public school funding and a school choice program would grow 502% over five years, from $1.85 billion next year to $11.1 billion in 2028.

Earlier this month, Abbott told lawmakers he might call them back for more special sessions if they failed to deliver school choice legislation.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: School choice in Texas: House rejects bill; governor to keep fighting