President-elect Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz performed well in The Lone Star State, as did Republicans in state-level races. The Wall Street Journal reports the GOP needed to win 76 out of 150 seats in the state House to enact Governor Greg Abbott's school choice plan next year, and 88 total House seats were claimed.
Eight of the 11 pro-school choice challengers the governor backed won their races after 21 Republicans joined Democrats last fall to vote down his bill for scholarships worth about $10,000, plus billions in public-school funding.
"School choice is about empowering parents so parents can find the best fit for their child," notes Jonathan Saenz, president of Texas Values. "I think something we would all agree on is let's have the child in the best environment – the best place in the best setting for that child to succeed. The parents are going to know best on that."
Tax dollars go into a fund for the state, and Saenz says that the money should follow a child to whichever school he or she attends. But if Dade Phelan continues to be speaker of the Texas House, Saenz is unsure whether there will be a vote on a strong school choice bill.
"That's why there is an alternative candidate – Representative David Cook – that a lot of people support, that's strong on school choice," the Texas Values president reports. "I don't think Gov. Abbott has said that he prefers one speaker over the other."
Saenz attributes the opposition to school choice to the lies spread by teacher unions that have a strong grip on public schools.
As the 89th legislative session begins January 14th, Texas is poised to pass its first private school choice program, and the nation's largest, serving some five million students.
