Dark Money Ran Through Texas’s Runoffs and Probably Just Delivered Win for Private School Vouchers

On October 9, 2023, Governor Greg Abbott approached Texas lawmakers and demanded they be present in Austin for a special legislative session. This session was allegedly meant to focus on making decisions on several outstanding hot button issues including immigration, COVID-19 restrictions, and what lawmakers were calling “Education Savings Funds”. But the majority of the special session seemed to reveal Abbott’s overwhelming interest in getting these education-centered funds passed.& These Education Savings Funds, also called vouchers, have become more popular across several conservative states and allow parents to use public funds to pay for private school for their children. In essence, parents would receive vouchers, worth a set amount and usable towards tuition at participating private schools. In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott’s proposed voucher program would mean a $8,000 per child per year allocation of state money to pay for private school tuition, homeschooling materials, online school or private tutors. Now a point of consistent debate, supporters argue vouchers offer parents more choice in and control over their child’s education, especially as the state falls deeper into a culture war that seems to be centered on topics like DEI, gender identity and other topics deemed “woke” by the far-right. Supporters...