The educational voucher system is a system where families are allocated funds for their children’s education, which the family can then choose to use for either public or private education.
For years, Texas lawmakers have attempted to instate a voucher system and failed, like when in 2023 their many proposals got rejected by the House of Representatives. Governor Greg Abbott in particular is extremely fond of the program, in fact he’s claimed to have been pushing for the program’s creation for over 3 decades now.
Those who are pro-voucher see it as an ability for parents to take their children out of public schools that they believe to be unsafe, underperforming, or unsuitable for their children. Amongst pro-voucher groups there’s also a general belief that creating a voucher system would create competition for public schools to try and get better in order to “win students back.”
What most likely would happen though would be the mass defunding of public schools and a decrease of resources for those that attend them. Previous to late 2024, Abbott took a hard stand against helping public school teachers with raises and increased resources, but since the 2024 election he has seemingly switched his sympathies and is now promising benefits.
Almost all Democrats remain strongly anti-voucher, and many Republicans representing rural areas strongly oppose the program as well. Schools in rural areas need the funding more than any other schools do, and they would most likely receive the biggest detriment from the instatement of the program.
Polling has been extremely close, with an estimated 52% of Texans supporting the system. Abbott most recently spoke about the program with increased confidence, claiming in 2024 that there were now “79 hardcore school choice proponents” in the House of Representatives who would vote for the program.
Abbott has also recently pledged that 2025 would be the year that he would make it happen. And considering President Trump has also made increasing cuts to the Department of Education, it’s looking like public schooling is most likely to experience a lot of change in the foreseeable future.