Since his reelection campaign in 2022, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been foiled in perhaps his biggest priority as the stateƵs leader: Passing a school voucher-like program that would allow the use of public dollars to go toward private education.
Last yearƵs Republican primaries saw Abbott campaign against House GOP lawmakers who opposed his proposal, and 11 of those Republicans were replaced during the selection by new lawmakers who said they support his plans for passing a school voucher program. reported that Gov. Abbott said in November that elections had left him with a net of 79 ƵhardcoreƵ voucher supporters in the HouseƵmore than the 76 needed to pass a bill.
A.J. Louderback, who overwhelmingly in November won the election for the Texas House District 30 seat in November vacated by the retiring Geanie Morrison, isnƵt necessarily one of those.
While Louderback says he is fine with the GovernorƵs initiative of parental choice, he is far from OK with it if it is Ƶgoing to cripple our public schools.Ƶ Abbott addressed the school voucher program in his State of the State address Sunday evening. The address took place after press time.
ƵThe Governor is really pushing for this school voucher program to pass,Ƶ Louderback said in an exclusive interview with The Advocate. ƵMy position on this has always been very simple. I want to make sure that our public schools are properly fundedƵfully fundedƵto a degree that they are operational and our public schools are not destabilized in any way. IƵm fine with people having an option, but there are so many other factors involved.Ƶ
School vouchers, also referred to as Ƶschool choiceƵ programs, use taxpayer money to help families pay for their childrenƵs private schooling.
In late January, the Texas Senate revealed a bill, Senate Bill 2, to create an education savings accounts program, which would provide families with $10,000 a year per student in taxpayer dollars to fund the childrenƵs tuition at an accredited private school and additional expenses like textbooks, transportation and therapy.
The legislation would provide $11,500 per student for children with disabilities. It also would provide at least $2,000 a year per student for home-schooling families who participate in the program.
Supporters of Senate Bill 2 say families should receive state support to send their child to a different school if they feel that public schools arenƵt adequately serving them. Opponents, however, are concerned that a voucher program would take vital funds away from what former Texas House candidate Stephanie Bassham and former U.S. Congressional candidate Tanya Lloyd previously described as the state's "financially starved public schools."
ƵIn this district, House District 30, weƵve got tremendous public schools,Ƶ Louderback says. ƵWeƵve got great teachers. We need to retain them. We need to pay them, which IƵm all for their pay raises, which they didnƵt get. They need a pay raise. So this is where I stand on savings accounts, which I believe thatƵs what youƵre going to see, savings accounts that can be used for a multitude of choices. ThatƵs my position.Ƶ
Louderback said when it comes to TexasƵ public schools, there are many more pressing issues that need to be addressed.
ƵProbably the key to me is the fact that our public education system, which has been under Republican rule now for quite some time, still fares very poorly among the 50 states,Ƶ Louderback said. ƵI want to get our public education system up to par with everyone else. I want a better education for our school children. IƵm not so sure that this is the way to do it completely.
ƵIƵm more of an advocate for a stronger disciplinary program and probably for a more balanced approach to tablets versus paper and pencil,Ƶ Louderback continued. ƵI want some accountability for our kids. I want our kids to be able to write in cursive. I want the teacher to have classroom control. And above all else, discipline in our schools today. I want to get control of abusive conduct, poor conduct and bad behavior that is allowed in our schools. These are the things IƵve advocated for ever since I announced I was running for this position.Ƶ
Bassham, who ran against Louderback in the November election, campaigned on making public education a priority and said last year that a school voucher program would be a ƵdisasterƵ for public schools.
ƵI completely support public education and believed that underfunded mandates have hurt our public schools,Ƶ Bassham said. ƵOur public schools are suffering death by one thousand cuts.Ƶ There are a multitude of issues that our local districts face.Ƶ
ƵThose issues get fixed with funding. There are millions of dollars that [Gov.] Greg Abbott has earmarked for a voucher plan. There are millions of dollars earmarked for vouchers, and people have paid their property taxes into that fund. And so, two things. You either use that money to pay for public education, or give them their money back.Ƶ
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