Gov. Greg Abbott has made 'school choice' one of his highest priorities this year, highlighting it in his State of the State address and throwing his weight behind education savings accounts, which would allow parents to opt out of their local school districts and receive state money to school their children directly.
“That will give all parents the ability to choose the best education option for their child,” he said during a parental rights event in Corpus Christi last month, where he announced his support for such a program. “The bottom line is this: This is really about freedom.”
Public education advocates and rural lawmakers have long opposed the voucher programs most often associated with 'school choice,” saying they siphon funds away from public schools. But supporters of education savings accounts, which have spread across the country in the last decade, see them as their best way to harness conservative parents’ discontent with public schools and expand “school choice” in the state.
