Texas is a rare GOP-led state with no school-choice programs, but Gov. Greg Abbott has made establishing one a top priority. This autumn he called legislators back to Austin to pass a universal education savings account (ESA) bill. Each student would be eligible for $10,500 annually, which parents could spend on private school tuition and other education expenses.
Thirteen states including Florida, Arizona and Iowa boast broad ESA programs. But the teachers unions are trying to contain their spread and mounted a firewall in Texas. Melting under union heat, 21 House Republicans last month joined Democrats in stripping ESAs from an education-funding bill that also included some $7 billion in new money for union-run public schools.
Unions falsely claimed that public schools, especially in rural areas, would be harmed by the bill even though they would have received more state funding. The ESAs might encourage more education alternatives such as learning pods in rural areas, requiring the unions to compete for students.