What’s the Matter With Texas Republicans When It Comes to School Choice Legislation?

What’s the Matter With Texas Republicans When It Comes to School Choice Legislation?
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott shares his plans for school choice at Power Empowerment Night in Tyler, Texas, on March 10, 2023. Courtesy Office of the Governor
Stephen Moore
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Commentary

This has been the year for school choice all over the country. At least six additional states joined Arizona and Florida to give parents the funds to send their children to private and charter schools.

Surprisingly, deep-red Texas is not among these states—at least not yet. Currently, there is no school choice in the Lone Star State for low-income parents. Gov. Greg Abbott and a broad coalition of parent groups are pushing for the state House to clear a historic education savings account bill that has already passed the state Senate.

But a small handful of rural Republican politicians in the House are still voting with the Democrats and teachers unions to block a measure that would give over 5 million Texas students and their parents the power to decide which school to attend. Rural representatives are arguing that this would take money from their local grade schools and high schools.

State Reps. Ken King, a former school board president from Canadian, Texas, Gary VanDeaver, a former school superintendent from New Boston, Texas, and Drew Darby of San Angelo, Texas, are among the Republicans holding up this game-changing bill. They all argue that the public schools in their districts are working just fine.

Really? King represents a Texas Panhandle school district where less than half of students are at or above grade level in reading, and only 40 percent of students in his district are at or above grade level in math. VanDeaver represents a northeast Texas district where only 52 percent of students in his district are at or above grade level in reading, and only 43 percent are at or above grade level for math. Darby’s Central Texas district has less than half of the children reading or doing math at or above grade level.

An additional Republican lawmaker, state Rep. Ernest Bailes from the small Southeast Texas city of Shepherd, is voting against choice even though only 27 percent of students are performing at or above grade level in math in his district.

Are these Republicans really arguing this miserable performance is the best Texas can do for its children? The opponents also fail to acknowledge that the bill they oppose actually directs more money per student for rural district schools and higher pay for teachers. Meanwhile, states such as Arizona report improvements in test scores in rural areas once schools had to compete for students with private schools.

All this is to say that education choice is proving to be a win-win for Texas children that stay in public schools and the families who are given the funds to opt for better alternatives.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Stephen Moore
Stephen Moore
Author
Stephen Moore is a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, chief economist at FreedomWorks, and co-founder of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity. He served as a senior economic adviser to Donald Trump. His latest book is “Govzilla: How the Relentless Growth of Government Is Impoverishing America.”
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