In recent years, Texas public education has become a battleground for right-wing ideologues aiming to embed Christian nationalist values in the classroom and to defund or privatize the state’s public schools, which currently serve about 5.5 million students. This 89th Legislative Session is no different.
After spending more than $8 million on last year’s House primaries to oust anti-voucher Republicans, Governor Greg Abbott appears confident that school vouchers will pass. But the bipartisan election of Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows over hard-right opponent David Cook may throw a wrench into the education agenda of conservatives, who have already filed hundreds of bills targeting the school finance system, LGBTQ+ students, undocumented immigrant children, and more.
