Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is on the cusp of enacting a $1 billion school voucher program that will provide tens of thousands of students with taxpayer dollars to pay for private school tuition, providing a massive boost to the conservative school choice movement.
But to finally achieve his long-sought policy goal, Abbott needs to hold together a precarious coalition of conservative and moderate Republicans in the Legislature — which he played a heavy hand in reshaping in order to usher through what would likely be the largest voucher program in the country.
He now has two crucial allies in his corner: President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who have added to the public pressure on Texas Republicans to back the program.
“Trump supports school choice, JD Vance supports school choice, Reagan supported school choice,” Abbott said last week during a Texas Republicans dinner. “On the other hand, you have Obama, Biden and Harris. Which team are you on? It’s easy.”
If Texas embraces vouchers after decades of failed attempts, it would mark the biggest victory yet for the school choice movement that has flexed its vast lobbying influence across states in pursuit of rewriting how American children are taught. And it would mark a staggering turnaround — one largely compelled by Abbott — compared to 2023, when a similar proposal repeatedly failed to score enough support from Republicans.
But for Abbott, maintaining a united pro-voucher front will prove difficult in the coming weeks. He’s cast the issue as strictly partisan, an attempt to drive a wedge between Democrats and rural Republicans who have banded together to strike down voucher proposals in the past. That coalition of voucher opponents says they’re more motivated than ever to stymie the GOP — and they’re skeptical Abbott has enough votes amid his grandstanding.
“The cake is far from baked,” said Democratic Rep. James Talarico, the lead opponent of vouchers in the Texas House. “Now that he’s got more votes, some of these Republican lawmakers are … starting to imagine what our state will look like with vouchers, and that’s given people some cold feet.”
“Should vouchers pass, Texas would join other GOP states like Florida, Arkansas and Iowa in creating massive school choice scholarship programs that have become a priority for influential Republican donors like former Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and billionaire businessperson Jeff Yass. School voucher supporters say they strengthen parental rights by giving families the financial freedom to choose a different education option.
At least 34 states and territories currently have some sort of school choice program, including 12 that deploy “universal” choice with vouchers available to students regardless of income levels. Enrollment is surging among these programs, although data shows that the majority of scholarships or vouchers are going to students already enrolled in private schools — often from wealthier families — with a smaller number of students leaving their traditional public schools.
National school choice advocates are celebrating the progress in Texas, which could open the door for more than 5 million new students to receive vouchers regardless of how much money their families make. This would mean that half of the K-12 population across the country would be eligible for a school choice program in their state, according to the American Federation for Children, a group launched by DeVos.
The sheer size of the proposed Texas scholarship plan would make it the “largest victory for school choice in history,” said Nathan Cunneen, AFC’s Texas state director.
Texas House leaders are looking to build upon the momentum of the more conservative Senate, where a voucher bill sailed through last month. Under that measure, up to 100,000 students would be awarded $10,000 in vouchers toward private school tuition, homeschooling costs and other services like therapy.
The ball is now in the House’s court, as it was in 2023 when it died several times at the hands of an alliance of Democrats and Republicans who were worried primarily about how vouchers would drain funding from public schools. Their opposition spurred vengeance from Abbott and sparked a bloody campaign season, in which he spent millions to unseat nine members of his own party.
“He proved that he’s got a lot of power, a lot of money behind him,” said former Rep. Steve Allison, one of the members successfully targeted by Abbott for bucking the Republican caucus by opposing vouchers. “He’s got everyone else scared that doesn’t want to stand up to him or risk that, and I think that speaks volumes. We just shouldn’t be that way. And I think people are waking up to that.”
Abbott and his close ally House Speaker Dustin Burrows kicked off negotiations in the House with a show of strength: Just more than half of the House members signed on to co-sponsor the chamber’s version of the voucher bill, which the governor cast as game over for opponents.
But the debate is just beginning. The House bill has some major differences from its Senate counterpart, starting with how payments per student are calculated. And while both set broad eligibility requirements, should more students apply for vouchers than spots are available, priority would be given to students with disabilities and families with low incomes.
Intense discussions over the contours of each bill will escalate in coming weeks. Talarico said he’s aware of several signatories on that list who privately are “voucher skeptics” and will want to see amendments added that could in turn alienate some supporters.
A lingering fight over whether Texas public schools will get more money and whether teachers will get a raise stands to spoil the voucher push. Public school proponents are worried that vouchers would strip away funding from cash-strapped public schools, and some Republicans are tying their support for a voucher bill to an increase in public school funding. The House is set to review the public school funding bill ahead of the voucher measure.
Another point of contention is how much accountability and oversight would be placed on private schools receiving voucher funds: Neither proposal, for example, requires private schools to take the same state standardized tests issued to public school students every year.
“We’re a fiscally conservative state, and public dollars usually would come with public accountability, and that doesn’t seem like what the voucher is aimed at,” said Jennifer Easley, president of the Texas Parent Teacher Association, which opposes vouchers. “It’s a big piece that I just can’t imagine that many Republicans in their heart of hearts can truly agree with.”
Since the session started in Texas, Abbott has kept up his full court press lobbying for school choice. The governor is frequently meeting with state representatives attempting to cement their support, posting the gatherings on social media.
If the pressure from Abbott wasn’t enough, Trump cranked up the heat on the House lawmakers even hotter by signaling they were on his radar.
“The Texas House must now pass School Choice to deliver a gigantic Victory for Texas students and parents,” Trump posted Feb. 8. “I will be watching them closely.”
The Trump administration is pushing for school choice expansions nationwide, with the president seeking programs in every state — and that certainly ropes in Texas. Trump’s recently sworn-in Education Secretary Linda McMahon is pledging to usher in a “new era of accountability” with parents being the “primary decision makers in their children’s education.”
One of Trump’s most trusted advisers and a Texas resident — Musk — leaned on the president’s message to further urge Burrows to get the legislation across the finish line this year.
“If kids only have one school option and it’s bad, then it’s like they never had a chance at all,” Musk posted on Feb. 14.
Now, any Republican lawmaker that votes against a massive voucher bill will be at odds with their governor and president, a daunting position for those seeking reelection soon. Abbott has already proven he has the sway and financial backing to oust GOP lawmakers, something that only intensifies with Trump’s involvement.
“There’s no wiggle room for representatives — there’s zero wiggle room,” John Colyandro, a Texas lobbyist who represents AFC and other school choice groups, and former top aide to Abbott, said in an interview. “That’s a pretty tough attack in a Republican primary.”
Despite the slim majority of supporters signed on to the House voucher proposal, Abbott is supremely confident Texas will enact school choice in the coming weeks. “School choice will soon be law,” the governor recently proclaimed on social media.
However, with the initial committee hearing for the House bill slated for Tuesday, the path forward is likely to get messy.
“I applaud these members of the legislature so much because they’re on the precipice of a session that’s going to make Texas history,” Abbott said during the recent GOP dinner.
