Texas Gov. Greg Abbott may finally be getting his wish to gut public education funding. A new bill that aims to bring public funding to religious schools has just been approved by a committee in the Texas House. The bill is advancing to the House floor tomorrow, so take action today to tell legislators in both chambers that you want public funds to go to public schools!
After four attempts at passing voucher legislation (one regular session and three special sessions), Abbott may have successfully bullied voucher opponents from within his own party to the point they have no choice but to fall in line. House Bill 1 is an attempt by splintered factions of the Republican Party to mend differences and pass a bill to save themselves from Abbott’s threats. While proponents of the bill will frame the legislation as aimed to fund public schools and raise teacher pay, its original purpose is transparently to install a harsh voucher program. Abbott has made it clear all along that vouchers must be passed before he would consider any public school funding requests.
The vouchers come by way of education savings accounts that can be used on private — often religious — schools. We need you to contact your legislators and tell them that they should properly fund public schools and provide pay raises for teachers without using vouchers as a pawn. So long as this bill contains voucher language, freethinkers need to fight back against it!
Abbott has been insistent on passing voucher legislation in Texas, and he has made it clear that he won’t stop until the legislature passes a wildly unpopular voucher scheme! Please take this opportunity to urge legislators to amend this bill to remove the voucher provisions and make sure we protect public schools. We’ve included suggested language through the “Take Action” button, which can be customized to your liking. For best results, please be succinct and polite.
(Note: You must live in Texas to participate in this action alert.)
