SCHOOL CHOICE

More than 380 supporters and opponents signed up Wednesday to testify on the proposal, which would allow parents to use state funds to send their children to private schools.

The poll from the University of Texas at Austin, released Thursday, found a plurality of voters support redirecting tax revenue to help parents pay to school their kids outside the traditional public education system.

Texas is the latest state to pitch a version of the program, which lets parents who opt out of their local school districts use tax dollars to pay for private schooling.

“School districts, what they have to do if they lose a student, [is] be smart about how they allocate their resources and maybe that’s one less fourth grade teacher,” Steve Lecholop, a TEA deputy commissioner, said in a call with a parent that was secretly recorded.

This comes two days after Gov. Greg Abbott voiced his most explicit support yet of a new school choice policy at a Parent Empowerment Night event in Corpus Christi.

Rural school leaders in Texas have been able to stave off the legislative priority of some of the state’s most prominent Republicans. But private school officials hope this year will be different.

Texas has had public school choice for decades, and the number of options is exploding. But some lawmakers are still trying to create private school choice options, while others are pushing against it.

Advocates say discontent with public schools’ pandemic rules and teachings on race and gender identity have helped raise support for school choice to an all-time high.

O’Rourke is hammering Abbott over vouchers on the campaign trail in rural Texas, where Democrats know they need to do better and where vouchers are a political hot potato for Republicans.