TEXAS, USA — The effort to expand school choice for Texas parents appears to be gaining support in Austin, whether that be through vouchers or education savings accounts.
Republican State Sen. Brandon Creighton says, instead of the issues only being pushed by regents of the state or certain coalitions, there’s statewide sentiment pouring into the Texas Capitol.
“It’s, without a doubt, caught a grassfire of support and I think it’s just different than before,” the Conroe Republican told us on Inside Texas Politics.
The idea behind school choice is Texas parents can use tax dollars to send their children to schools outside of public education, such as private or charter schools.
Democrats and rural Republicans have long joined forces to fight the effort, arguing that it would steal too much money from public schools, thus weakening them.
But Creighton says supporters of school choice are working hard behind the scenes to change the minds of rural Republicans and he says momentum is growing there as well.
“It’s a new day for how we look at education in Texas going forward,” said the Senator. “It’s really surprised me that a lot of those sort of rigid lines and narratives, we’ve broken down a lot of barriers in this particular topic and many are coming to the table that haven’t been at the table before.”