(Courtesy photo: Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at the Kingdom Life Academy private school on Nov. 6, 2024, in Tyler. Credit: Michael Cavazos for The Texas Tribune | Used with Permission)
By Jaden Edison
Texas Tribune
After a wave of Texas Republicans dominated the ballot box on Election Day, Gov. Greg Abbott expressed confidence Wednesday that he now has enough votes in the Texas House to pass a school voucher program, his top legislative priority since last year.
The governor shared his optimism during a visit to Kingdom Life Academy, a small Christian private school in Tyler, where he proclaimed that the House now has 79 “hardcore school choice proponents,” a number slightly above the simple majority the 150-member chamber needs to approve legislation.
During the same visit, Abbott also said he was committed to fully funding Texas’ public schools, providing teachers with pay raises and enhancing career training opportunities for students — all of which he refused to do last year when vouchers stalled in the Texas Legislature.
Last year, House lawmakers voted 84-63 to strip from a massive education funding bill a provision to establish education savings accounts, a voucher-like program that would have offered parents tax dollars to pay for their child’s private schooling and other educational expenses. Twenty-one Republicans, most of whom represented rural school districts, joined all House Democrats to oppose the legislation over fears that such a proposal would undercut the funding public schools rely upon.
Abbott vowed to use the March primary election cycle to campaign against the rural Republicans who helped block his plan. He did so with the support of people like Pennsylvania billionaire Jeff Yass, who have sought to use their money and influence to back school voucher proponents across the country.
Abbott’s reluctance to fully fund public education last legislative session — even with a record $32 billion budget surplus — caused many public school districts to enter this school year with multimillion-dollar deficit budgets while also tussling with rising costs of living, expiring federal pandemic relief dollars and insufficiently funded legislative mandates to improve school security.
But after at least 11 of the 15 pro-voucher candidates he endorsed earlier this year cruised to victory in Tuesday night’s general election, Abbott said both addressing public schools’ funding needs and passing school voucher legislation to his liking would happen during next year’s legislative session.