By Russell H. Withers, August 31, 2022
Over the course of approximately two decades of conservative stewardship in Texas, government policy has been steady and sensible. From the enactment of a competitive energy market and comprehensive tort reform, to budgets that spend within the state’s means and don’t outpace the state’s growth, conservatives have made Texas a better place to live, raise a family, work, and do business. Within the context of good governance are a host of conservative priorities that the legislature has made a reality. Session after session, these include pro-life bills, gun rights bills, fiscal reforms and tax cuts, economic freedom reforms, public safety laws, First Amendment protections, and more.
The greatest omission from conservatives’ record in Texas is the enactment of policies that would empower parents and students to seek out the school that best serves their needs. Across the nation, 29 different voucher programs have been enacted in 16 different states.[i] Eight different education savings account (ESA) programs have been enacted across eight different states.[ii] 26 tax-credit scholarship programs have been enacted across 21 different states.[iii] States, such as Kentucky and Missouri, are enacting new innovations in education choice, such as tax-credit education savings accounts.[iv] Eleven individual tax credit and deduction programs provide educational choice for students across nine different states.[v] More than half of the states in the nation have some form of education choice that includes private options. Texas is not one of them.
That conservative leadership in Texas has not enacted a major education choice policy in Texas to date is disappointing. Continued failure to advance choice in education while controlling statewide offices and both chambers of the legislature would be a profound missed opportunity.
It is time to capitalize on that opportunity. Support for education choice has never been higher. Real Clear Opinion Research has been tracking the following basic question for several years in national polls:
School choice gives parents the right to use the tax dollars designated for their child’s education to send their child to the public or private school which best serves their needs. Generally speaking, would you say you support or oppose the concept of school choice?
As of June 2022, 72% of respondents answered in the affirmative.[vi] Broken down by partisan divide, 82% of Republicans and 68% of Democrats now support the concept of school choice.[vii] Broken down by race, support among black respondents (70%) and white respondents (72%) was roughly equal.[viii] Support was highest among Hispanic respondents, with 77% supporting the concept of school choice.[ix] In Texas, 88% of voters in the 2022 Republican Primary voted in favor of a party proposition showing support for education choice.[x]
Voters of all race and political affiliation are now supporting education choice because they see it for what it is: a choice. Never before has it been so apparent that the one-size-fits-all approach to public education of the 20thCentury is not a model that works for everyone. Decisions made in response to a pandemic, state policy on school curriculum, and teaching methods—no matter how one feels about them—are lighting rods. Choices allow parents to seek out a school setting that fits their values, their student’s interests and ambitions, and avoids state policy quagmires they may not agree with.
The traditional public school will never go away. Indeed, traditional public schools remain the number one choice of students and parents who are given a choice. But that system can co-exist in tandem with policies that empower students and parents to seek alternatives. The proof is in the dozens of programs already successfully implemented in more than half of the states in the country. The 88th Legislative Session is an outstanding opportunity to address this outstanding conservative priority.
[i] https://www.edchoice.org/school-choice/fast-facts/ [ii] Ibid. [iii] Ibid. [iv] Ibid. [v] Ibid. [vi] https://www.federationforchildren.org/new-poll-72-support-for-school-choice/ [vii] Ibid. [viii] Ibid. [ix] Ibid. [x] https://www.federationforchildren.org/school-choice-champions-win-texas-special-elections/
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