Gov. Greg Abbott urges Texas parents to push school choice at Temple Christian School event

Governor Greg Abbott urged parents and supporters at a Temple Christian School gathering to press the Texas Legislature to expand education savings accounts and other school choice measures, saying the state can both increase public-school funding and create separate funding streams for choice programs.

"We are going to end this session providing more funding for public education than ever before in the history of our states," Abbott said, and added that parents must be "empowered to choose the school environment that is best for their child." The governor also noted he previously helped create education savings accounts for special-needs students and argued the program should be expanded to all families.

The appearance Friday night included remarks from Temple Christian principal and head of school Dr. Andrea Chevalier, who said school choice would remove financial barriers for families and described Temple Christian's student body as "44% of our student body is minority." Chevalier cited research and personal experience to argue that private and faith-based schools can better meet some students' needs.

Mandy Drogan, campaign director of Next Generation Texas at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, framed the local effort as part of a broader "parent empowerment" movement built on transparency, quality, respect and choice. Drogan said an internal review by the Texas Education Agency showed just 19% of curriculum is on grade level and accused groups opposing choice of spending "$100,000,000" in taxpayer funds to lobby against education savings accounts; those numbers were presented as assertions by speakers at the event and were not independently verified in the program.

Rep. Tony Tenderholtz, who represents part of the area, told the audience the House recently gathered strong coauthor support for a school choice bill and urged attendees to contact legislators ahead of committee hearings. Senator Kelly Hancock and other local lawmakers offered personal endorsements of the governor and appealed to supporters to meet representatives after the event.

Event organizers closed the program with a ceremonial proclamation from the state recognizing the night as a parent empowerment event. The governor agreed to remain afterward for photographs and to meet attendees.

The speakers repeatedly framed school choice as complementary to, not a replacement for, public education funding; supporters at the event were asked to call, email or visit legislators' offices in the coming days to sustain the bill’s momentum.