In Texas, Greg Abbott and allies really, really want to pass vouchers, and they are going to keep throwing money at voucher-friendly candidates until they get their way. This last election may have put them over the line.
Public education advocates say that while defeating school vouchers next legislative session will be an uphill battle, the fight isn’t over.
“There’s more than one way to get the voice of the people amplified. It’s not always at the ballot box. If we get such an overwhelming cry against this policy, I think you’re going to see House members tell the speaker not to let the policy come to the [House] floor,” said Charles Johnson, executive director of the public education advocacy group Pastors for Texas Children, which has long organized faith-based leaders to fight against vouchers and for religious liberty.
In the last legislative session, Abbott tied a $7.6 billion public school funding package to a universal private school voucher program. Even after four special sessions, House legislators voted 84-63 to strip the voucher proposal from the bill; 21 Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the bill. Abbott poured $8.8 million into House primary campaigns and ousted nine incumbent Republicans who voted against vouchers. Much of this was bankrolled by Pennsylvania billionaire Jeff Yass, who contributed an astounding $6.3 million to Abbott’s warchest. Yass also gave $8.7 million to AFC Victory Fund, an affiliate of the Besty Devos-backed American Federation for Children, which in turn poured nearly $5 million into the Texas primaries. An affiliated PAC of the right-wing Club for Growth also spent over $8 million, according to state campaign finance records.
To counter Abbott’s gains in the primaries, House Democrats targeted several key races with the goal of flipping two or three GOP-held districts. They fell far short of their goal and even lost two open seats held by retiring Democrats. The GOP will now control 87 of the 150 seats in the lower chamber.
Abbott declared that there are now 79 “hardcore school choice proponents” in the state House, enough to meet the simple 76-vote majority needed to pass a voucher bill.
Josh Cowen, a professor of education policy at the Michigan State University, told the Texas Observer that Abbott is following the same playbook as in 30-some states where vouchers were passed. “A lot of outside dollars are spent on the Republican primary processes. The only difference with Texas is that you do have this longer bipartisan tradition of opposition, but it’s also a lot bigger and a lot more expensive to play in the primary game [in the Texas Lege].”
