Even in defeat, Abbott continues to lie about vouchers
After lying for a year or more about the public benefits of spending tax dollars on vouchers for private schools, Gov. Abbott continued the practice after the Texas House delivered a firm 84-63 vote against his top legislative priority. In a statement published in the Austin American-Statesman, Abbott said the “vast majority” of Texans support vouchers.
Wrong. I don’t care how many “pro-voucher” polls Abbott and his school privatization allies want to claim, the simply reality is this: If the vast majority of Texans supported the idea of giving away billions of their tax dollars to unregulated private schools, Texas would already have a voucher system. We don’t, and if the House vote holds, we still won’t have one.
Abbott blamed the anti-voucher vote on the “small minority of pro-union Republicans in the Texas House who voted with the Democrats.” More untruths.
The 21 House Republicans who voted against vouchers last week were exactly one-fourth of the House Republicans who were present and voting that day. They are not “pro-union.” They are pro-public education. They are lawmakers who strongly support their local public schools. And they agree with teachers’ groups, school board members, superintendents and other public education advocates, union and non-union alike, that it is dangerous nonsense to divert tax dollars to private schools, especially when Texas public schools are woefully underfunded.
They also recognize that they have a sworn constitutional obligation to support their public schools and no obligation whatsoever to private schools, nor to a governor and billionaire political donors who want to destroy public education.
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