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Abbott and Texas lawmakers urge passage of $1 billion education savings-account school choice plan
Summary
Governor Greg Abbott, House leaders and parent-advocates at a San Antonio Christian School event promoted a $1 billion education savings-account program as a statewide school choice initiative, arguing it would expand options for families and not draw money from public-school funding.
Governor Greg Abbott and top Texas House leaders used a Parent Empowerment event at San Antonio Christian School to urge passage of a proposed $1 billion education savings-account program they say will expand school choice across the state.
"We will pass school choice in the state of Texas," Abbott told the audience, tying the push to broader goals of improving teacher pay and academic performance. Speaker Dustin Burrows and House leaders announced a legislative package that, they said, "will also allocate $1,000,000,000 to establish Texas' first school choice program through education savings accounts." Burrows called on parents to contact legislators as the bills move through the House.
The governor framed the proposal as part of a three-part approach to make Texas "number 1 in education": recruiting and funding excellent teachers, reforming curriculum for academic basics, and empowering parents to select the best educational setting for each child. Abbott argued that school choice complements — rather than takes funding from — public education, telling the crowd that separate funding categories will finance the choice program and that critics who say the plans will "take money away from public education" are spreading falsehoods.
Speakers described a range of reasons parents seek alternatives, including special-needs services and classroom incidents they described as disrespectful to patriotic symbols or exposing children to profanity or inappropriate materials. Representative Mark LaHood cited local demand, saying roughly 1,500 children in his district were on charter waitlists.
Supporters at the event urged grassroots pressure on legislators and warned of organized opposition from school-board associations and long-standing education lobbyists. "You need to email or text your representative," Abbott said, and Burrows and others echoed that call to action.
The event closed with a proclamation recognizing the school and remarks from parent-advocates who outlined the movement's pillars of transparency, quality, respect and choice. No formal legislation was voted on at the event; speakers asked attendees to mobilize while bills proceed through the legislative process.
The next procedural step for the proposal, as described by speakers, is passage in the Texas House and then a governor's signature; supporters at the event said votes in the House were expected to be sufficient to send the measures forward.
