The landscape of Texas education faces a potential sea change as school voucher supporters celebrate significant victories following the state's Tuesday primaries. According to reporting by KENS 5, these primary wins have brought the conservative dream of using state dollars for private school tuition closer than ever to becoming a reality.
Gov. Greg Abbott played a crucial role in the shift, spending an impressive $4.4 million in the month before the primary against Republicans in the House who previously voted against the voucher proposal. Despite this, public servants who have stood against vouchers, often citing the potential harm it would cause to public school systems, raise the alarm and endeavor to continue their resistance. "Texas is closer than ever to delivering on the promise that every parent be in control of their child's education," Mandy Drogin, campaign director at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, told KENS 5 in a statement.
Meanwhile, voucher opponents decry the influence of out-of-state money on the primaries. Millions of dollars from outside groups were injected into the campaigns, sometimes with attack ads that sidestepped educational issues entirely. Kate Johanns, speaking for the Association of Texas Professional Educators, expressed concern over the tactics used: "Out-of-state donors have colluded with state leadership to defame and punish honorable public servants from their own party who went to Austin to vote their districts and their consciences," she conveyed to KENS 5.
The aftermath of the primaries has left the door ajar for a heightened clash come the May runoffs. The target is the House approval of the voucher program, which could carry a hefty price tag for the state over the next few years. A statement from Corey DeAngelis, attached to the American Federation for Children and branded as a "school choice evangelist," underscored the election's impact: "This election was a total bloodbath and a mandate for school choice in Texas," he asserted in an email note to the Tribune. However, Brian Woods from the Texas Association of School Administrators rebuffed these conclusions, asserting to the same publication, "I think Republican primary voters have spoken on vouchers to a degree, but to say that’s a mandate of the people, meaning all the people, that’s tortured logic if not an outright lie."
Even candidates who stood in opposition to Abbott's campaign felt the heat, not just on vouchers but across a range of accusations. Rep. Gary VanDeaver, who saw himself pushed into a runoff, told the Tribune, "They had the audacity to call me weak on guns," starkly contrasting his actual legislative record.
