Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pledged to make educational freedom for parents “an emergency item this session” in advocating again for state-funded education savings accounts during his “State of the State Address” on Feb. 16 at rare earth elements business Noveon, in San Marcos, Texas.
Abbott’s address also covered cutting property taxes, ending COVID-19 restrictions, ending revolving-door bail, as well as border security, the fentanyl crisis and school safety. But he pledged to “do even more” in funding public education although he wants to help students succeed by giving their parents school choice.
“The way to do that is with school choice through state-funded Education Savings Accounts. We’ve seen them work in other states — and here in Texas,” Abbott’s address said. “I created Education Savings Accounts for special needs students. It worked so well that a bipartisan super-majority passed it into law and now wants to increase funding for it….To be clear, under this school choice program, all public schools will be fully funded for every student. This is so vital to the future of our state that I am making education freedom an emergency item this session.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
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By using education savings accounts, parents can “withdraw their children from public district or charter schools and receive a deposit of public funds into government-authorized savings accounts,” EdChoice said. Parents in at least 10 states have education savings accounts available to them, with Arizona establishing the first one in 2011. Parents can use the financial assistance on qualifying educational expenses, the Texas Scorecard said.
“Gov. Greg Abbott said ‘every child in the state of Texas’ needs access to a voucher-like program that gives parents public dollars to spend on private school tuition or other educational expenses,” The Dallas Morning News reported that Abbott said on a visit on Jan. 31 at Annapolis Christian Academy in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The Texas Senate passed a school choice bill in 2015 and 2017, but the Texas House hasn’t, Spectrum News 1 reported.
“The passage of school choice bills almost always comes down to the Texas House, and the bill crafted and passed by the House Public Education Committee,” Spectrum News 1 reported.