Texas Gov. Abbott to call third special session for school choice, promising more until it passes

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott will likely call a third special legislative session in October on school choice, says one of his aides.

Dave Carney, the governor’s chief political strategist, said the session will happen after the impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to the Dallas Morning News.

“The governor, the team and our allies continue to work on this,” Carney told the Morning News. “We’re getting closer every week. When we have the trial and everything else behind us, then the governor will call a special session, probably in October, and we’ll get everything done.”

Previous efforts during the regular session to pass a universal school choice program was sidetracked by some rural Texas Republicans who critics say are worried about it removing pork-barrel spending from their special districts. 

“There is a group of Republican lawmakers who are otherwise very conservative in the ways that they vote, but who see this as a measure that would take money away from their communities’ public schools,” claimed Christy Rome, executive director of the anti-school choice Texas Schools Coalition. “Largely, they don’t have private school options in those communities, so they feel that this is a way in which the state invests in education without benefiting their schools.” 

Efforts by rural Republicans to block school scholarship programs in other states have crumbled as empirical evidence is showing rural students benefit greatly from such voucher programs. 

In June, already considering a second special session to tackle a program of property tax relief, Abbott said he would push for a special session for school choice.  

“Only a parent can discern the unique needs of their child,” Abbott remarked at an event hosted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, according to the Texan.  

Abbott added that if a third special session doesn’t work, he’ll call a fourth and fifth special session, until he gets school choice passed. 

“We’re gonna have multiple special sessions until we get these issues addressed and there will be an appropriate time when we bring up school choice, and if it doesn’t pass, we’ll bring it up again,” he told TPPF.  

A school choice bill passed in the state Senate, but rejected by the state House, would have given students up to $8,000 for educational expenses, including private school tuition. Rural districts would’ve been protected by funding of $10,000 for every student who left the district school, reported the Dallas Morning News.  

Carney said that whatever happens this time, Abbott isn’t going to compromise just to save face. 

“He’s certainly not going to take a small-token, face-saving, piddling amount,” Carney told the Morning News. “There are a lot of kids that need to be helped, and ultimately everybody deserves to have school choice.” 

In May, Abbott threatened to veto a stripped-down version of the school choice bill. 

“Parents and their children deserve no less,” he said in a statement.