 Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signs a statewide school choice bill into law at the governor's mansion in Austin on May 3, 2025. Credit: Texas governor's office With Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature on Saturday, Texas became the 16th state to embrace universal school choice. “Gone are the days that families are limited to only the school assigned by government,” Gov. Abbott said. “The day has arrived that empowers parents to choose the school that’s best for their child.” We only would add that thanks to the leadership of Gov. Abbott, universal school choice gives parents the ability to fully express the First Amendment by carrying their values across the generations. That freedom will include the ability of parents to choose schools with an emphasis on STEM, on the arts, or religious-based schools. Texas is allocating an initial budget of $1 billion to provide more than $10,000 per year for each child to pay for private school tuition. Children with disabilities will receive an additional $30,000 for extra care. Parents who homeschool their children can receive up to $2,000 a year for materials and resources. Parents will be able to access these funds though education savings accounts. Only a few years ago, no state had universal school choice, making choice a pipe dream for most American families. With mega-states like Florida and Texas – and large states from Arizona to Tennessee and North Carolina – now embracing school choice, it is clear that school choice has moved from the periphery to the center of American life. Where will this movement go from here? We see two fruitful avenues for further progress. The first are states controlled by Democrats. There is no mistaking that the school choice debate has been a red-blue issue, stoutly rejected by Democratic leaders from Sacramento to Springfield. We are hopeful that as universal school choice states post positive educational results, blue-state governors will begin to rethink their reflexive opposition. Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania has been notably open to considering some form of school choice for the Keystone State. The second avenue for progress is for the House to pass the Educational Choice for Children Act, and to ensure that it remains in the reconciliation package. This bill would create a substantial resource, through tax credits, for the private sector to support private school options with donations. With a third of the states now embracing school choice, it is time to consider the unfolding of this movement as a matter of national policy. Comments are closed.
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