As state lawmakers return for another special session in Austin on Monday, members of the Bexar County delegation are under tremendous pressure from both supporters and opponents of Gov. Greg Abbott’s proposed education savings accounts.
Public school administrators who oppose the idea have repeatedly pressed legislators not to even discuss the issue, while school choice supporters make plans to lure holdouts on board with a historic spending boost for public schools. In one case, a three-term GOP incumbent known for siding with Democrats on public education has drawn a primary challenger who hopes to elevate the issue right as lawmakers are returning to work.
Allowing taxpayer money to fund private school tuition has long been a coveted goal of conservative groups in Texas, and Abbott named the issue a top priority headed into the 88th Legislative Session.
But any path to achieving that goal in a special session still hinges on mustering support for an idea Republicans and Democrats in the state House have long joined together to stop.
“The House has spoken on vouchers already on two occasions [this year],” Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio), chair of the House Democratic caucus, said in an interview last month. “It’s never been a soft count. What we’re dealing with is executive obstinance. We’re dealing with a governor who’s not happy with that, and will continue to push this uphill.”
Abbott’s own embrace of school choice is relatively recent, and comes as the movement has undergone a significant rebranding effort to improve its political appeal.
For decades school choice in Texas has focused on vouchers, which would allow parents to move their child’s allotment of public school funding with them to another school. That freedom already exists when students enroll in public charter schools or transfer to a public school district that they don’t live in, but not when they enroll in a private school.
In this legislative session, however, the conversation is focused on education savings accounts (ESAs), which would provide taxpayer money for students who leave public school to pay private school tuition or other education-related expenses, like homeschooling costs.
The conservative think tank Texas Public Policy Foundation, which has advocated for school choice since its creation in 1989, says its polling indicates roughly a third of school choice opponents support ESAs after hearing an explanation of how they work.
“We can stand and support public schools … while also acknowledging that sometimes a school that a student is zoned for does not meet their needs, or is not satisfactory to a parent,” TPPF’s education policy expert Mandy Drogin said in an interview last week.
Versions of ESAs now exist in 31 states, and Abbott instituted a similar program for special needs students during the pandemic, using federal relief money.
But public school advocates contend expanding ESAs to all students, as Abbott has called for, would ultimately have the same effect as vouchers, spreading the state’s limited resources to private schools, which aren’t required to take all students.
“The majority party tells us we are an ultra-conservative state. How was it conservative to build another school [system] … across the street from one that’s not overflowing with people?” said state Sen. José Menéndez (D-San Antonio). “… We can’t give an inch on vouchers.”
Narrowing margins
The change in messaging around school choice comes as education policy has also become a bigger priority for Republican primary voters, making GOP lawmakers who’ve sided with Democrats on the issue a vanishing species.
In April, 86 members of the House, including Bexar County’s seven Democrats and state Rep. Steve Allison (R-Alamo Heights) approved a budget amendment prohibiting state money from going toward nonpublic primary or secondary education. (That amendment has been introduced every recent session and was approved with a heftier 115-vote margin in 2021.)
In May, 76 members of the House supported a procedural move to halt discussion of a broader education bill, known as House Bill 100, after the Senate version added $500 million for education savings accounts.
“My job is to count the votes,” Martinez Fischer told educators at a Sept. 25 awards ceremony hosted by the pro-public education group Raise Your Hand Texas. Of Bexar County’s 10 House members, he added, “I think eight of us are very strongly committed to opposing vouchers any and all ways. One is a little squishy, and one has already made a decision to support.”
Allison, a former president of the Alamo Heights Independent School District board, is among those Martinez Fischer believes will help stop ESAs in the special session. Allison was invited to Raise Your Hand’s event but did not attend to receive an award from the group honoring his past commitment to public schools.
A less certain vote is state Rep. John Lujan (R-San Antonio), who campaigned on his support for public schools but also stood with Abbott when the governor announced plans for his parental empowerment campaign in 2022. So far Lujan hasn’t taken a public position on ESAs in his first legislative session, voting “present” on the April budget amendment.
Both Allison and Lujan declined to be interviewed for this story.
A third Bexar County Republican, Mark Dorazio, who represents House District 122 covering far Northwest Bexar County, has vowed to support the governor’s push for education savings accounts.
Last year Dorazio emerged from a crowded primary as the GOP’s nominee to replace retiring Rep. Lyle Larson, a moderate who often sided with Democrats on issues related to public education.
“While I have great respect for the public school system, I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House and the Senate to ensure that as many students and parents as possible are able to make the education decisions that are best for them with their tax dollars,” he said in a statement to the San Antonio Report.
While public school advocates remain confident about Allison’s position, he has already drawn a primary challenger in House District 121.
“School choice is a defining issue. I’m running against him because of that issue,” said Marc LaHood, a Republican who recently announced plans to run against Allison. “The education of our children, protecting our children … is probably one of the most essential factors that voters are looking at right now.”
Closing the deal
With GOP majorities in both the House and Senate, Abbott doesn’t need Democrats’ help to approve ESAs in the special session.
That hasn’t stopped activists from targeting some Democrats they believe could join their cause.
State Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins (D-San Antonio), who founded a public charter school, is reportedly talking with school choice advocates in the House.
This week state Rep. Philip Cortez (D-San Antonio) said a school choice activist blocked his driveway with a vehicle blaring messages about the issue, before heading on to Allison’s house later in the day.
While Cortez says he opposes sending taxpayer money to private schools, he believes some Democrats could be enticed to support ESAs by tying them to additional funding for public schools.
The Legislature already approved roughly $6.3 billion for public education this year, including increases in funding for education materials, school safety and benefits for retired teachers. That legislation did not include raises for current public school teachers.
Lawmakers now enter the special session with about $4.8 billion left to spend, money that could be used to boost public school funding alongside the ESAs.
“From what I understand everything is going to be tied to whether or not the ESA voucher system is set up,” Cortez said. “When you start talking about potentially increases for teacher salaries and other important issues … there’s always a possibility that [House members] can change their mind.”