AUSTIN, TEXAS — New polling confirms what Texans already know: an overwhelming bipartisan majority of voters oppose Greg Abbott’s school voucher scam, set for testimony tomorrow before the House Public Education Committee. While Governor Abbott continues to project false confidence about widespread support of his scam, this research reaffirms that voters in Texas and across the country oppose voucher scams.
HB 3, an expensive billionaire-backed private school voucher program, would strip thousands of dollars from neighborhood schools and funnel them into unaccountable private schools. For years, Governor Abbot has deliberately starved local schools, holding funding hostage for 5 years while – repeatedly failing to pass his unpopular voucher scam.
Meanwhile, Texas schools are crumbling under the weight of Abbott’s neglect. School closures from Leander to El Paso — forced by anemic state funding — have left students without critical programs, pushed into overcrowded classrooms with burnt out teachers. Instead of increasing funding, Abbott and his allies continue to push for fiscally irresponsible solutions that have left states with voucher schemes.) in debt and crisis.
Today’s new poll of likely midterms voters confirmed that:
70% of public school parents oppose vouchers, and 85% report that $10,000 would not be enough for them to afford private school tuition for their child. More than two-thirds of voters, including 82% of swing voters, say they are less likely to support a candidate for the Texas State Legislature who votes for a private school voucher program. Two-thirds of Texans oppose “A private school voucher program that takes tax dollars away from local public schools to subsidize a student’s private school education.” Three quarters of rural Texans are concerned about voucher scams pulling money out of their neighborhood schools – top employers for rural communities.
“We will not stand for vouchers or anything that takes money out of neighborhood schools.” said Representative Alma Allen, Co-Chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus Special Committee on Education. “Texans know that our students in local schools need resources and support, not distractions and attacks.”
“Senate Republicans sold out millions of Texan school children for more donations from the out-of-state billionaires who fund their campaigns,” said House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu. “With Texans on our side, a bipartisan coalition in the House shut down Governor Abbott’s last attempt at a voucher scam, and we’ll do it again this year. House Democrats won’t stop fighting for our neighborhood schools until they’re funded at the level they deserve.”
“Greg Abbott is pushing a billionaire-backed private school voucher scam that takes money from our public schools and gives it to wealthy parents who already send their kids to private school,” said Representative James Talarico, Co-Chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus Special Committee on Education. “This poll is proof that the vast majority of Texans don’t want voucher scams. The governor isn’t working for the nearly 6 million public school children — he’s working for the billionaires who write $6 million checks to push this scam.”