After a long and hard-fought battle to give even more taxpayer money to the wealthiest Texans, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a private school giveaway (sorry “school choice”) into law Saturday.
The new law allows parents to redirect public tax dollars — previously used for pesky things like public education — to cover tuition at accredited private schools or pay for extras like transportation, textbooks, or therapy. Yes, Texas is now in the business of subsidizing private education, because apparently public schools working with shoestring budgets and overworked staff just weren’t performing enough miracles.
“When I ran for reelection in 2022, I promised school choice for the families of Texas. Today, we deliver on that promise,” Abbott announced Saturday. “Gone are the days that families are limited to only the school assigned by government. The day has arrived that empowers parents to choose the school that’s best for their child.”
Translation: If you don’t like your underfunded neighborhood school, here’s a coupon. Good luck finding a private school that will take it!
The law kicks in on Sept. 1, with the actual voucher program expected to roll out sometime in late 2026 — just enough time for more teachers to quit, schools to close, and public education to limp along on fumes. And in a state that is spending less and less on public school students according to a Texas Tribune investigation, things definitely aren’t going to get better anytime soon!
This legislative victory lap comes after years of hand-to-hand combat in the Texas Legislature. Democrats and rural Republicans (Remember them? The people who actually live in districts where public schools are all that’s left between students and generational poverty?) have long argued that vouchers will gut public schools, hurt working families, and weaken the social safety net that public education was supposed to be.
Sadly they were no match for Abbott’s machine, which has chewed up and spit out any Republican who dared oppose vouchers.
“Remember this day next time a school closes in your neighborhood,” said Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, per the Texas Tribune. “Remember this day next time a beloved teacher quits because they can’t support their family on their salary. Remember this day next time your local property taxes rise because the state government is not doing its fair share of school funding. And if recession comes and we are forced to make even deeper cuts to public education, remember this day.”
But don’t worry, Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick aren’t losing sleep. They insist that vouchers and public education can live happily ever after, side by side. Because if there’s one thing history has shown us, it’s that public programs always thrive when you start siphoning their funding into the private sector.
The new law creates a $1 billion Education Savings Account program, allowing families to use public funds — up to $10,000 annually per child — for private school tuition and related education expenses. Supporters, including many Republican lawmakers, frame the bill as a victory for parental rights and school choice. In reality, it takes money from underfunded public schools and gives it to rich families who already send their children to private institutions.
And not that it matters to Abbott, but his alleged constituents (aka, Texans) hate the idea. A recent survey by a Texas workers coalition found that two-thirds of likely voters in Texas oppose voucher-like initiatives.
So to recap: the governor just handed out a billion-dollar party favor to Texas’s most well-connected families, gutted public schools a little more for the fun of it, and called it “empowerment.” Teachers get burnout, kids get fewer resources, and the state gets to pretend it’s solving a problem it helped create. But hey — at least the rich parents who were already paying for private school can now write it off like a gym membership.
And when the dust settles — when neighborhood schools shutter, when class sizes balloon, when another round of teachers walks out the door — don’t expect an apology. Expect a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Expect a press release about “freedom.” Expect another round of lawmakers earnestly insisting that your child’s education is a top priority — right after tax breaks, campaign donors, and whatever the latest moral panic is.
Because in Texas, we don’t fix public schools. We defund them, blame them, and then call it “choice.”
