School choice in Texas has been on the docket for years, once failing to be passed in 2018 thanks to a key election ousting some of its biggest supporters. It lost some momentum after that, especially as the COVID pandemic robbed us all of one year of life. But advance the clock about six years, and we find ourselves in a similar situation to 2018, just flipped.
This last special legislative session in Texas, 21 Republicans helped gut and destroy the school choice bill. That came after Governor Abbott had to call three special sessions in efforts to pass it. Since then, Abbott and other Texas lawmakers have begun going after those 21 who downed the ship.
Five of those Republicans have announced they will not seek reelection for their seats. As the other 16 get ready for election season, their opposition is now getting backing from pro-school choice groups such as the School Freedom Fund (SFF) and AFC Victory Fund (AFC VF).
School choice advocate Corey Deangelis says the remaining bunch have their work cut out for them.
"All of them have primary opponents who support school choice...on the ballot in 2022, over 88 percent of Texas Republican Primary voters voted a resolution to support school choice," he says. "That is up 9 percent from the last time it was on the ballot in 2018."
The SFF most recently announced a $1.15 million television advertisement blitz across eight of the primaries. In addition, the AFC VF said last week they will be targeting twelve of the lawmakers who opposed school choice.
While there are calls within the legislature to just remove House Speaker Dade Phelan, it needs to go beyond that.
"You can take out Phelan, but if all the same members are there, they might just elect another speaker who opposes school choice as well," Deangelis says.
As mentioned previously, Governor Abbott has also been doing his best to campaign against those who opposed school choice, which is a bit unorthodox. But State Representative Steve Toth is in favor.
"I have never seen a sitting governor actually get involved in trying to displace members of the Texas house," says Toth. "I love it."
While these pro-school choice groups may have some semblance of impact on the primaries, Toth says passing this bill will come down to one major factor.
"More than anything it will come down to Governor Abbott wading into this," he says.
But of course, there is the million-dollar question: Will this finally get over the finish line?
"Next session you will see it...come hell or high water, we will get school choice in Texas," Toth says. "We will get it done in regular session...Republicans will come together, and we will deliver."
The Primary Election is set to occur on March 5.
Photo: Getty Images North America