Elon Musk, Ted Cruz call for Texas House to pass school choice bill

WASHINGTON - Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Elon Musk are among a growing number of Texas politicians calling on the Texas House of Representatives to pass education savings accounts after the bill sailed through the Senate last week.

What they're saying:

In a letter shared by other members of the Texas House, Cruz called on House Speaker Dustin Burrows to pass a "strong universal school choice bill."

"School choice is the civil rights issue of our time and, quite frankly, a matter of common sense," the letter reads. "Texans overwhelmingly support parents' right to choose the education that best suits their family's needs, regardless of their race, ethnicity, wealth, or zip code."

Cruz went on to urge Burrows to "support the most substantial universal Education Savings Accounts bill possible this session."

"Texas has a long and proud history of taking bold, courageous action," Cruz said. "Now is the time to uphold this tradition and act on behalf of our children for the future of Texas."

Cruz isn't the only person in Washington with their eyes on Texas lawmakers.

Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk shared a post from President Donald Trump commending the Texas Senate on passing the bill. 

"I hope Dustin Burrows passes school choice in Texas to give kids a chance," Musk said on X. "If kids only have one school option and it's bad, then it's like they never had a chance at all."

Gov. Greg Abbott agreed with Musk.

"Exactly. There is no competition without choice," Abbott said. "Look forward to working with the Texas House and Senate to get it done."

What are education savings accounts?

Senate Bill 2 passed through the Texas Senate on Feb. 5.

The bill allows the use of taxpayer money to pay for private schools.

The bill would create education savings accounts from taxpayer money for families who are interested in private education over public with up to $10,000 per year per student.

The bill would have a lottery system where 80 percent of the funds would be allocated to students who have special needs or are in low-income households.

The remaining 20 percent would be open to any student based on lottery selection.

The funds could be used to pay for private school tuition, public school costs, tutors and books. 

The other side:

Democrats expressed their concerns over the bill only allowing up to 100,000 students to participate in the education savings accounts that would allow parents to use public money for private school tuition.

Opponents have argued the bill hurts rural school districts, while the bill's author, Sen. Brandon Creighton said the bill would help rural Texas schools, saying school choice raises the bar for all schools.

Others have expressed concern that school choice will not reach the low-income families it is intended to help. The threshold to be eligible for the lottery is 500% of the federal poverty line, or around $160,000.

Texas House

The bill is now in the hands of the Texas House, where it was shot down during the last session.

The Texas Senate passed a version of a school choice bill during the last legislative session.

When the plan entered the Texas House during the last legislative session, many Republicans from rural districts sided with Democrats to vote down the issue, fearing the bill's passage would take money from public schools in their district.

Abbott made it a priority during the election season to find primary opponents for those representatives and all the Abbott-backed Republicans in the general election won their elections, seemingly giving enough votes to pass the bill.

What's next:

The bill now heads to the Texas House to be read and voted on. If it passes, it would then head to the governor's desk.

Texas PoliticsTed CruzElon MuskEducationTexas