Despite Pushback, Voucher Agenda Marches On

For many families in Texas, this week has been dominated by the excitement and jitters of the first days back to school. Even though the temperature is hovering in the triple digits throughout the state, school districts are back in Fall form.

For many educators and school employees, this year feels like it’s on the brink of a precipice. This could very well be the last full school year Texas has without full-throated school choice legislation. Texas remains the last “red” state without a major voucher bill, but that could potentially change in November after Greg Abbott and his allies launched primary attacks on Republicans who resisted passing legislation that could take away funds from public schools, which are usually the biggest employer in rural Texas.

A school voucher bill did not pass in the legislative session, and Abbott called four separate special sessions afterwards. He had a steadfast partner in Lt. Governor Dan Patrick. In 2022 he wrote that he was in “full support” about Abbott’s call for school choice legislation. Patrick also appeared at a Texas Public Policy Summit earlier this year. The Texas Public Policy Foundation has been one of the biggest conservative groups to promote school vouchers.

Patrick faced controversy in 2022 after he spoke about vouchers and singled out Dallas ISD as an urban “dropout factory.” That prompted a rebuke from the Texas Federation of Teachers, who noted that charter schools on average have higher dropout rates than public schools. 

Like Abbott, Patrick has received thousands in donations from major school choice backers, including Pennsylvania billionaire Jeff Yass. Donations from Yass to Patrick in 2024 totaled $750,000. Last year, Abbott received a $6 million donation from Yass, which was the largest ever single donation in the state’s history. 

In May, Patrick accepted $20,000 from the Family Empowerment Coalition, a PAC that supports pro-voucher candidates. Their website shows that their “mission is to support Texas elected officials who champion Education Savings Accounts (ESAs).”

Patrick’s commitment to school choice extends to his own PAC. Between January and May of this year, Texans for Dan Patrick donated $25,000 to the Texas Home School Coalition. Coalition, while a proponent of homeschooling, is also a major backer for school vouchers. Passing a school choice bill with Education Savings Accounts is listed as one of their top legislative “priorities for the future." Patrick attended their convention back in April.

In January 2024, Texans for Dan Patrick also donated $2,500 to Texas Values Action, the “advocacy and legislative action arm” for Texas Values. That organization describes themselves as “standing for biblical, Judeo-Christian values.” Last year they promoted October 15 as “School Choice Sunday.”

As the election in November looms even closer, many education advocates are bracing for the real possibility of school choice legislation finally making it from Patrick’s wish list priorities to an actual bill in the next legislature. This week the Education Committee scheduled a hearing about vouchers on Monday, August 12 (the first day of school for many districts in Texas). Testimony was supposed to end at six but was extended by the Republican Chairman Brad Buckley. The majority of public comments for the Committee on Public Education opposed vouchers.