The 21 Texas House Republicans who voted against school choice in the most recent legislative session either did not run for reelection in the Texas GOP primary on Tuesday or faced challengers endorsed by staunch school choice supporters Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
The future of school choice in Texas may depend on how those primary elections go Tuesday. Last fall, with the help of these anti-school choice Texas representatives, the Texas House of Representatives defeated a bill to institute education savings accounts in the Lone Star State.
"It's a school choice showdown." Tomorrow, 16 Texas lawmakers who voted against school choice initiatives are facing re-election. Will voters remove them from office? @deangeliscorey discusses on @foxnews. #SchoolChoice #SchoolChoiceNow pic.twitter.com/EH6IS40VyM
— American Federation for Children (@SchoolChoiceNow) March 4, 2024
The bill would have allowed taxpayer money for the education of Texas schoolchildren to follow each student to the school of their family’s choice. Supporters of the bill say it would have helped Texas families with children who are in underperforming, unsafe, union-ruled, government-run public schools that indoctrinate children with big government ideologies.
Scientific, randomized control studies of school choice consistently demonstrate that students who enroll through these programs improve their academic results. School choice even results in better outcomes at government-run schools as they make improvements to keep from losing all their students and budget to better-run schools.
State Rep. Hugh D. Shine (R), who opposed school choice for Texas families last year, is now begging public school teachers in a letter to a local elementary school to vote for him in the GOP primary after former President Donald Trump, Abbott, and Cruz endorsed his opponent, Hillary Hickland, a wife, mother, and 9th generation Texan.
According to Brad Johnson, senior reporter for The Texan News, Shine wrote in a letter to Belton elementary school teachers, saying “YOU must go and vote in the GOP primary election. Vote to protect public education. Vote for me…so I can continue to defend our teachers & schools in the Texas House.”
.@ShineforTexas camp sent these letters to a Belton elementary school, to be handed out to teachers.#txlege
“YOU must go and vote in the GOP primary election. Vote to protect public education. Vote for me…so I can continue to defend our teachers & schools in the Texas House.” pic.twitter.com/21jKyhYjF7
— Brad Johnson (@bradj_TX) February 27, 2024
“If he’s successful at getting more than half these incumbents unseated, he’ll be one of the more powerful governors in Texas political history,” Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political-science professor said about Abbott’s bid to unseat the anti-school choice Republicans in his state.
