Forest Country News

Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) emphasized his support for school choice and education savings accounts (ESAs) in a March 3 tweet.

"Urban, suburban and rural Texans agree: the time is now for school choice in Texas," Abbott tweeted. "Parents in Amarillo and across our state deserve education freedom — plain and simple. This session, we’ll empower every parent in Texas to choose the school that is best for their child."

Abbott also spoke on what he termed "education freedom" during his State of the State address on Feb. 16, promoting the implementation of state-funded ESAs.

"We’ve seen them work in other states — and here in Texas," he said in the speech. "I created education savings accounts for special needs students. It worked so well that a bipartisan supermajority passed it into law and now wants to increase funding for it. Now it’s time to provide every parent with the ability to choose the best education option for their child. To be clear, under this school choice program, all public schools will be fully funded for every student. This is so vital to the future of our state that I am making education freedom an emergency item this session."

According to Texas Scorecard, ESAs allow parents to use the provided financial assistance on any qualifying education expense, including private and charter schools. They're also one of many alternatives that parents in various states have to public schooling. Such options -- including private schooling, homeschooling and charter schools -- don't allow parents to receive the financial support allocated to students for public education.

On The74 website, "Step Up For Students" policy and public affairs director Ron Matus argues that school choice can work in rural America, citing Florida as an example. He states that, while rural areas have unique challenges, such as limited transportation and a lack of educational resources, school choice policies can help to resolve them.

"Even in rural areas, supply is growing to meet demand," Matus wrote. "In the past two decades, the number of private schools in Florida’s rural counties has grown from 69 to 120. These are home-grown schools, in many cases started by former public school teachers with deep roots in their communities."

According to Texas 2036, while 3 million Texans live in rural areas, 60% of rural school districts do not have Advanced Placement (AP) classes, and 33% do not have access to high-speed internet.

"Today, many rural Texans struggle to access resources that their urban and suburban counterparts take for granted, such as education opportunities, access to health care and broadband internet access," the website. "Fortunately, Texans have never shied away from a challenge. Every one of these data points stands as an opportunity to make rural Texas even more of a powerhouse than it’s ever been."