The Texas Report 10/2

The Texas Report 10/2

What’s happening in Texas:

• Texas Special Session #3 announced for October 9th.

• School Vouchers and why it’s the most contentious issue in Texas Politics.

Texas Special Session #3

Governor Greg Abbott has notified the Texas legislature that a third special will begin on October 9th. In a letter signed by Abbott to the Lt. Governor, Speaker, and state legislators, Abbott announced his intentions to call another special session without specifying what may be on the call.

Since the end of the 88th Regular session, Abbott has promised to call lawmakers back to tackle issues like school vouchers and border security.

In the lead-up to the 88th session, school vouchers (often referred to as school choice or education savings accounts) were a significant priority for Abbott. As has been the case for several sessions, the Texas Senate passed school voucher legislation, and it was ultimately held up in the House.

At one point, proposed voucher legislation would give parents access to $8,000 in taxpayer dollars to put towards sending their kids to private or charter schools. Rural House Republicans and Democrats staunchly opposed this legislation and blocked it from moving through the lower chamber. Senate Republicans attempted to pass voucher bills tied to teacher pay raises. This strategy didn't work, resulting in teacher pay raise legislation dying.

Abbott has promised to call another special session after this one if the proposal fails, and if that doesn't work, he plans to "send it to the voters themselves."

Other items that may be on the call:

• Border Security. Abbott has promised border security issues will be on the special session call. The details are hard to say, but legislators have called on Abbott to add border security to the special session legislative agenda. Conservative House Republicans hope to pass something similar to H.B. 20 by Representative Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler), which died during the regular session.

• The north Houston Colony Ridge development has been a major feature in conservative news, and Abbott said that it will be looked into during the upcoming special session.

• Vetoed bills from the 88th. Rumors have swirled around the Capitol that Abbott has promised legislators to revive their recently vetoed legislation from the regular session if they vote for vouchers. This isn't a surprise. However, it's hard to see how much it would move the needle, considering most vetoed legislation weren't priority bills.

Abbott faces an even taller task than normal of passing something through each chamber. Tensions (due to the Ken Paxton trial) haven't been this high between the House and Senate since maybe the 2017 bathroom bill.

Getting an already controversial proposal through the legislature will require a significant swing in rural Republican votes, many of which are likely more entrenched to do the opposite of the Texas Senate. Lt. Governor Patrick's comments regarding the impeachment process and how Speaker Phelan handled it have added significant fuel to the fire among the ruling party of Texas.

School Vouchers and why it’s the most contentious issue in Texas Politics.

For the last few decades and increasingly in the last several years, there's been a lot of talk about creating a taxpayer-funded system for parents to use tax dollars typically intended for public schools to go private or charter schools.

This has been a significant issue in Texas since 2005 when then-Speaker Tom Craddick (R-Midland) made it a priority, eventually stopped by a coalition of Rural Republicans and Democrats.

At the time, many Republicans who voted for vouchers experienced said it was an extremely unpopular decision back home.

Vouchers (aka education savings accounts/ESAs) allow parents to hold public funds in an account for private school tuition, homeschooling, private tutors, online courses, and purchases from various private vendors.

The concern for many rural Republicans is that ESAs are often unregulated, there isn't as much accountability regarding taxpayer funds, and there aren't any real education opportunities outside of your public school in rural Texas. This potentially leads to "fly by night" educational centers temporarily appearing to offer services in exchange for ESA funds.

Additionally, many opponents of ESAs see them as only rewarding those who can afford options like private schools. The proposed $8,000 voucher wouldn't cover the cost of most private schools and is seen by some as a refund without supporting those who cannot afford the on average annual $10,400 tuition.

Supporters of Vouchers:

The pitch for vouchers and ESAs is "empowering parents." Conservative Republicans promote school choice as an opportunity to root out "woke agendas" in the classroom and allow parents to use tax dollars for alternative education options. Across the country, conservatives have supported vouchers to address perceived "indoctrination," "critical race theory," failing schools, inappropriate books, and more.

• During the 88th Regular session, Abbott said that enacting school choice would lead to the end of the STAAR test.

• More than a dozen states, most recently Arizona, have passed or expanded voucher programs.

• Part of the analysis for voucher bill S.B. 8 was that parents have “become less trusting of school districts and charter schools because they do not feel as if they have been granted appropriate opportunities to direct their children's educational experience.

• S.B. 8 would have provided provides families who leave the public school system or are enrolling in prekindergarten or kindergarten for the first time with $8,000 to be spent on tuition and fees at an accredited private school and other approved educational expenses such as textbooks, uniforms, tutoring, transportation, etc. Additionally, school districts with fewer than 20,000 students would have received $10,000 for two years for each student that leaves the district.

Abbott, Patrick, and many Republicans have argued parents should be free to choose which schools their kids attend and that public funds should follow the student.

Voucher opponents say that "school choice" means schools choose students and that the proposed policies would benefit wealthy parents who already chose alternatives to the public school system.

The below article does a good job of articulating the research on both sides of the voucher argument while explaining the issue as it relates to Texas.

Very interesting reach on Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp: