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Texas leaders press for universal school choice as House committee prepares vote; questions about cost and access persist
Summary
Governor Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Speaker Dustin Burrows urged passage of a universal school choice package the Texas Senate approved, while reporters pressed leaders on a Legislative Budget Board projection of long-term costs and how low-income families would access private schools.
Governor Greg Abbott and top Texas leaders urged lawmakers on Wednesday to approve a universal school choice package that the Texas Senate has already passed and that the House Public Education Committee is expected to take up next week.
Abbott, standing with Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Speaker Dustin Burrows and former Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, said the proposal is a step toward making Texas "number 1" in education and argued the state can both fully fund public schools and expand parental choice. "School choice is so important for parents," Abbott said. "No one knows better than a parent the power and the importance of school choice for children."
The stakes include competing claims about the program's size and cost. A reporter cited a Legislative Budget…
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