State Democrats may take legal action against Texas to block new school choice law
Dozens of Texas Republican lawmakers and those in the school choice movement attended the historic ceremony Saturday when Gov. Greg Abbott signed the education savings account bill into law; however, Democrats are considering their next move to attempt to block it.
Texas Democratic Party Chairman Kendall Scudder said Democrats are considering taking legal action against the state to keep the education savings account bill from taking effect.
"There isn't a lot that we can do on the policy front other than trying to litigate, which you very well may see," Scudder said in an interview with Jack Fink. "We're going to do everything and use every tool within our wheelhouse to try to protect community public schools from this onslaught of billionaires that are trying to keep our kids uneducated so they can keep their wages low... But let's be honest, it's a bit of a Hail Mary right now."
The $1 billion program will provide tax dollars for Texas students to attend private schools.
Republicans said they are giving priority to disabled students and those from low-income families. However, Democrats said they believe most students who will enroll in the program will be from wealthy families and already attend private school.
Texas Republican Party chairman Abraham George told Fink he would welcome any lawsuit from the Democrats.
"So the messaging to those parents is, well, your kids are stuck in a failing school because you cannot afford to send them to a private school or a charter school or something else," George said. "So if that's what they want to take to the court and to the public square, I'm glad they're doing it because that will get more people to come to the Republican side and say, ok, we want a free market, we want school choice."
The Texas Comptroller's Office is now charged with setting up this program, including choosing the private schools that will take part in it, figuring out how parents can apply, and following the criteria set by lawmakers on how students will be selected.
The law will go into effect during the 2026-27 school year.
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