Gov. Abbott’s nose is getting longer

We already knew that Gov. Greg Abbott has a problem understanding that his constitutional duty to provide for public education doesn’t include promoting a multi-billion-dollar tax giveaway for private schools.

We also knew that Abbott has a problem with the truth. Most recently, during his GOP primary campaign to purge the Texas House of the Republicans who helped kill his voucher plan last year, he and his pro-voucher allies wrongly accused his targets of killing additional funding for public schools.

Abbott himself, of course, was responsible for killing the additional funding because of his vow not to increase state funding for public education without approval of a voucher plan, which he did not get.

Now that Democratic lawmakers are urging him to call a special session to provide the extra funding that is desperately needed by school districts fighting budget deficits, the governor’s problem with the truth has erupted again.

Now, he is blaming schools’ budgetary problems on local issues and the pending expiration of federal pandemic funding. Those issues are secondary. The main problem is Abbott’s refusal to approve increased state funding for public schools without a voucher program – even with a record, $33 billion state budget surplus.

“You’ll be shocked to hear this, but it’s not me that ‘s responsible for this (school funding crisis),” Abbott said, as reported by KXAN-TV and the Nexstar network.

No, I am not shocked to hear Abbott’s denial. It is what he does – deny blame and ignore the truth.

Liar is a strong word. But how do you have any confidence in a governor who, out of sheer political spite, creates an emergency for public schools, then denies any responsibility and wrongly shifts the blame?

Clay Robison

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