Texas Governor Greg Abbott to hold school choice news conference on Wednesday
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Texas Governor Greg Abbott has made passing school choice legislation a top priority. The governor sat down with FOX 4's Steven Dial to talk about where things stand after the primary election and says deals that were previously offered may now be off the table.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott will hold a news conference in Tyler on Wednesday to discuss school choice, one of Abbott's legislative priorities.
Democrats and rural Republicans have teamed up to block school choice bills in past legislative sessions.
Twenty-one House Republicans joined 63 Democrats to remove Education Savings Accounts from a bill in 2023.
Education savings accounts are essentially taxpayer-supported bank accounts for parents who remove their children from the public education system. Those parents get state money up front to pay for their educational expenses, like private school tuition, online schooling or private tutors. In most cases, the state manages these accounts.
Photographer: Ronda Churchill/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Governor Abbott actively campaigned against those Republicans during the primary season.
Of the 21 House Republicans who opposed ESAs, nine lost their primaries while five others decided not to seek reelection.
Shortly after the primary, Gov. Abbott told FOX 4's Steven Dial that he was "certain" that school choice would pass this time around.
Going into Tuesday night, several pro-school choice candidates are on the ballot in Texas House races.
2024 Election: The Texas House races that could decide school choice
Different versions of school choice bills have recently been blocked by Texas Democrats and rural Republicans. Tuesday's election could be an indicator of what to expect in Austin come January.
Abbott's Wednesday news conference will likely be a victory lap.
The media advisory from the governor's office says Abbott will be at Kingdom Life Academy, along with founder and director Joel Enge.
Enge recently wrote an op-ed in the Dallas Morning News about the importance of school choice.