Governor Greg Abbott finally got the voucher legislation he wanted, after years of defeats. His goal was frustrated by a coalition of Democrats and rural Republicans. The latter were defending their hometown schools, which are staffed by friends and relatives and are the community’s hub.

In last year’s elections, Abbott ran hard-right Republicans against the rural Republicans who stood in his way and disposed of most of them. He attacked them with a campaign of lies, saying they opposed border control, never mentioning vouchers. His efforts to oust anti-voucher Republicans were funded by out- of-state billionaires, including Jeff Yass, the richest man in Pennsylvania, Betsy DeVos, and Charles Koch, as well as home-grown Texas billionaires. Even Trump intervened to encourage the passage of vouchers.

The article says that the legislators refused to permit a referendum because such votes “generally” reject vouchers. Fact-checking would have changed the word “generally” to “always.” In more than 20 state referenda over the years, the public has always voted against vouchers. The article does not mention that the vast majority of vouchers in every state that have adopted them are used by students already in private schools, mostly religious schools. Nor does it note that the academic results of vouchers are strikingly negative (see Josh Cowen’s book The Privateers). Typically the students at private schools are exempt from state testing requirements (which conservatives contend is absolutely necessary for students in public schools).

Most important, it is not the students or the parents who have choice. It is the schools that choose their students. Voucher schools are not bound by anti-discrimination laws. They may exclude students for any reason, including their race, religion, disability, gender or sexual orientation. Some religious schools accept only children of their own sect.

Gregg Abbott campaigned exclusively at private Christian schools. He attacked public schools for “indoctrinating” students, but the best schools for indoctrination are the evangelical schools that will benefit from this legislation.

The following article is a gift, meaning no pay wall.

The New York Times reported:

The Texas House of Representatives voted early Thursday morning to create one of the largest taxpayer-funded school voucher programs, a hard-fought victory for private school choice activists as they turn their attention to a nationwide voucher push.

The measure still has some legislative hurdles to clear before Gov. Greg Abbott signs it into law, but the House vote — 85 to 63 — secured a win that was decades in the making, propelled by the governor’s hardball politics last year. It was also a significant defeat for Democrats, teachers’ unions and some rural conservatives who had long worried that taxpayer-funded private-school vouchers would strain public school budgets.

The program would be capped at $1 billion in its first year, but could grow quickly, potentially reaching an estimated $4.5 billion a year by 2030. The funds can be used for private school tuition and for costs associated with home-schooling, including curriculum materials and virtual learning programs.

The bill was championed by an ascendant wing of the Republican Party, closely allied with President Trump and important conservative donors, including Betsy DeVos, Mr. Trump’s wealthy former education secretary, and Jeff Yass, a billionaire financier from Pennsylvania and a Republican megadonor.