The Texas House needs 76 votes to pass the school voucher plan. Mr Abbott said in response to the election results that he received 79 votes.
TEXAS, USA — Lone Star Statewide election results show Gov. Greg Abbott will receive enough votes to pass his school voucher program into law, one of his top priorities, in the Texas House of Representatives. .
The governor took a victory lap Wednesday, hosting a press conference at a private school in Tyler, Texas, where he spoke about the concept of school choice.
“Every family in Texas deserves the right to choose their school, and because of the election that took place last night, they will now,” Abbott said at a news conference. “We ensured that we elected enough Republicans to the Texas House of Representatives to pass school choice plans, just as the Texas Senate has passed many times.”
On election night, Republicans took to the podium “X” to boast that all of the candidates they supported had won in the Texas House of Representatives general election. The governor joined several candidates who were pouring in money and supporting their campaigns. They were primarily candidates who defeated several Republican incumbents in primaries who voted to remove tuition assistance from the massive education bill.
The concept of school voucher programs, also known as education savings accounts, is for families to use state funds to send their children to private schools.
Critics say it’s an idea that has no place. Many of those critics include Texas public school leaders. They argue that public education in Texas is underfunded and that school vouchers could cause further damage.
“That’s completely untrue,” Abbott said. “The reality is you can have the best public schools in America and have school choice at the same time. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. We’re going to have separate money. One One for public schools, one for public schools, one for fully funded, teacher pay raises fully funded, and then another pot for school choice.”
Abbott said at a news conference that he needed 76 votes to pass the education voucher plan in the Texas House of Representatives, and he could get 79 votes based on who wins the election.
With that support, the governor will fully fund public schools, provide teacher raises and teacher incentives, strengthen career and job skills training programs, and increase school choice in Texas. We are committed to making it universal.
“We want to make sure that kids who don’t want to go to college can get good-paying jobs right here in Texas, where they’re in high demand by some of America’s biggest employers,” Abbott added.
The next legislative session begins in January, where lawmakers will need to debate what a school voucher program in Texas will look like, or what it could look like. Discussions and conversations will likely include concepts that have already been discussed, such as who qualifies for the program, how much funding will be given, and what it means for public education.
