Rural Texans Speak Out Against Vouchers

The Texas House of Representatives released 198 pages of public commentary on Governor Greg Abbott’s proposed school voucher program. Among the many comments were dozens from rural Texans explaining how it would hurt them.

The battle between Abbott and rural Texans has always been a curious one. The rural districts are almost universally Republican strongholds, reliably delivering statewide offices to the GOP for decades. Yet, Abbott’s plan to push through vouchers is almost universally hated by those same people. Rather than change his position to better serve his base, Abbott has doubled down on the project, which is largely driven by wealthy oil and gas moguls.

“I grew up in a rural farming community,” said stay-at-home mom Afton Chrissey. “I’m a product of public schools because, in our community, there were no private school options. Your constituents in rural areas do not benefit from vouchers.”

Chrissey’s comment shows a long-running problem with the voucher system. More than 90 percent of the money used for vouchers ends up going to wealthy Christian schools located in urban and suburban areas. Rural communities have poor and often no options to actually use the vouchers and worry that the program will eventually siphon funding away from their public schools.

It’s already happening even without vouchers passed. Abbott stonewalled any increase in education funding until he gets his way. This has led to massive cuts across the state, everything from jobs to bus routes.

Wade Callaway, superintendent of  Gruver Independent School District, made this exact point in his comment.

“To hold the funding of public schools over [vouchers] has been, and will to continue to be, very hurtful for our district and hundreds of others just like us,” he said. “Gruver ISD is everything good about public education, yet we are receiving little help for our State.  We need funding to keep up with inflation, we need our politicians to stop the vitriolic attacks on public schools, we need your help.”

Even rural Texans who don’t use the public schools think it’s a bad idea. Tawny Crawford, a homeschooling mom from Perrin, opposes what she thinks vouchers will do to her community.

“Rural schools, already struggling with limited resources, could suffer further under [vouchers] as funding is diverted away,” she said. “This could lead to program cuts or even school closures, reducing educational options in areas where public schools are often the only choice outside of homeschooling. As a homeschool mom, I understand and support the importance of public schools, especially in rural and low-income areas.”

Throughout the entire document, not a single person who identified as a rural Texans had a positive thing to say about vouchers. Universally, they saw the idea as a drain on their local public schools, which are already struggling. It’s clear from the public comments that Abbott pushing through vouchers would be acting in direct defiance of a prime constituency.

Unfortunately, vouchers are the main obsession with the wealthy donor class, and they seem to be driving the matter at the moment rather than the voters.