Public Schools Are Under Attack, and Texas Is Just the Beginning
Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently signed Senate Bill 2 into law, turning Texas into the latest testing ground for a dangerous experiment that has already failed elsewhere and now threatens the future of public education, not just here, but across the nation.
Senate Bill (SB) 2 creates a statewide school voucher program in Texas that uses taxpayer dollars to help cover tuition at private and religious schools. Scheduled to launch in the 2026–27 school year, the program allocates varying amounts of money per student in public funds. But these dollars can be used at institutions that are not required to follow the same academic standards, financial transparency, or nondiscrimination protections that public schools are held to.
Governor Greg Abbott speaks to reporters outside of the West Wing after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on February 5, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Governor Greg Abbott speaks to reporters outside of the West Wing after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on February 5, 2025, in Washington, D.C.SB 2's voucher scheme is an assault on our public education system. It siphons money away from neighborhood schools and hands it to private institutions that are unaccountable to the public and often unqualified to serve students equitably. In effect, the state is subsidizing schools that can reject students based on religion, disability, gender identity, and more, all while draining critical resources from public classrooms.
These schools operate in the shadows, free to discriminate, free from oversight, and free to shape their admissions and curricula around exclusion, not inclusion.
For over 30 years, Texans have opposed vouchers. Parents, teachers, students—and even local conservative leaders—have joined in vocal, bipartisan opposition to these schemes. But Texas Governor Abbott ignored them and instead sided with billionaires to replace state leadership that wouldn't vote his way on school vouchers, choosing instead to appease wealthy donors and fringe political ideologues. In their crusade for power and profit, they made Texas kids the collateral damage.
We've seen how this ends. In Arizona, the nation's largest voucher expansion has blown past budget projections and left public schools reeling, while families face long waitlists and additional costs in the fine print, leaving them to foot the bill. In Wisconsin, a decades-old voucher system has deepened racial and economic segregation and siphoned hundreds of millions from public education, all while failing to deliver tangible results for kids and families. And in Florida, a chaotic and bloated voucher expansion has led to unregulated private schools, some without certified teachers or accredited curricula, while public schools in areas like Miami-Dade face steep budget shortfalls.
Texas lawmakers had every opportunity to learn from these failures. They chose not to. Because SB 2 was never about helping kids. It's about dismantling our public education system and funneling public dollars into private hands—quietly, permanently, and without public consent.
During debate, 44 amendments were introduced—many of them aimed at adding transparency, accountability, and protections for students. Not one passed. In a particularly telling moment, State Representative James Talarico proposed an amendment to let voters decide on vouchers directly. The House tabled it without a second thought.
This is not just a Texas story. This is a national strategy. Texas has long been the proving ground for extremist policy experiments—from abortion bans to book bans, to now school privatization. The fact that national political figures, including the president, are now weighing in on a state-level education bill should set off alarms for every American. SB 2 is a blueprint for how public goods are quietly defunded and handed over to private interests under the guise of "choice."
Texas Freedom Network (TFN) will not back down. Neither should Texas families. Public education is the backbone of our democracy. It's where children learn how to live and thrive in a diverse, dynamic society. Undermining that system undermines our future. It erodes equality. It erases opportunity. And it abandons the constitutional promise Texas has made to every child.
TFN and our allies are committed to fighting this for every student, regardless of their race, zip code, income level, faith, or LGBTQ identity. Texans deserve schools that serve all students, not political agendas. We will not forget who turned their backs on our kids. Neither will voters, and if you're in another state, know who you're electing at the ballot box. Ask yourself if they're bringing the next voucher scheme to your doorstep or if they're willing to fight for public education, our country's great equalizer and the foundation of our democracy.
Marti Bier is Texas Freedom Network's chief of programs.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
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