Big backers of public schools in Texas? Rural Republicans.
| Freer, Falfurrias, and Premont, Texas
When a well-known community member dies in Atlanta, Texas, the funeral is often held in the high school auditorium.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the only place in town that can hold that many people,鈥� says Atlanta schools Superintendent Jason Harris. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just the heartbeat of the local community.鈥�
Downtown Atlanta 鈥� about 10 miles from the border of Louisiana and Arkansas 鈥� features a grocery store, a hardware store, a public library, a feed store, and a couple of auto parts stores. There are about a dozen churches.听
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onRural Texans are deeply conservative 鈥� and deeply committed to their public schools. How will that play out in an era when school choice has become a GOP litmus test?
In the rural towns where he鈥檚 worked, these social and cultural bonds are as important as any other service the public schools provide. The school and the community are indistinguishable, sharing Friday night football and Sunday morning services, good times and bad times.
鈥淚鈥檝e always been extreme East Texas,鈥� says Mr. Harris, in a thick, piney woods drawl. Like most rural public school teachers, Mr. Harris taught multiple subjects and coached multiple sports. (Science was his area of expertise.) In the past 30-plus years, he鈥檚 never worked more than 20 miles from the Louisiana or Arkansas state line.
鈥淪trong 海角大神, conservative values ... the towns I鈥檝e been in, they want their public schools to represent that,鈥� he adds. 鈥淭here is not a one-size school that fits everybody, but public schools do our best to do that for all kids.鈥�
For decades, this has been the dynamic in Texas: Rural Texans are important to Republican dominance in the state, and public schools are important to rural Texans. This is because in rural Texas, as in rural America, a town is only as healthy as its public schools.
Thus, rural lawmakers are often decisive in determining the state鈥檚 education policy. As the country鈥檚 education landscape has diversified beyond the traditional public school system toward public, charter, private, and home-school options, efforts in the Lone Star State to keep pace have crashed against a wall of deeply conservative Republicans who are deeply loyal to public schools.
That is, until this year, perhaps. With the anxieties and uncertainties of pandemic schooling still fresh in the memory, with public education dragged into the culture wars maelstrom, and with a record surplus of over $30 billion to play with, Texas conservatives are more optimistic than ever of significantly altering K-12 education in the state.
Most controversially, the state legislature 鈥� in session until the end of May 鈥� is likely to vote on creating an education savings account (ESA) program. Similar to voucher programs taking hold in other Republican-led states, it would allow eligible parents to use public funds for 鈥渆ducational services鈥� like tutoring, home-school supplies, or private school tuition. Parents of a student would receive $10,000 a year, and the student must have been enrolled in public school the previous year, according to听. While school choice has increased in Texas, the state has never allowed public tax money to be used for private education.
The damage such programs inflict on the public school system, and the efficacy of the programs themselves, are hotly debated. There isn鈥檛 much academic consensus on those questions, but states like Texas are considering them in a climate of declining public school enrollment, stagnant teacher salaries, and safety and security concerns.
In rural communities, these debates have real-life stakes. Where wages are low and jobs are scarce, a good education is still the surest route to breaking the generational cycle of poverty. Local schools are often not just the social and cultural hub of the community, but the biggest employers as well.
And in rural Texas 鈥� which holds half of the state鈥檚 public school districts, and the decisive Republican voting bloc in every statewide election since the Clinton administration 鈥� these debates are especially complex.听
鈥淎 lot of our values line up with the Republican Party, but the Republicans are not public school-friendly, so it is a dilemma for us,鈥� says Mr. Harris.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard on us to have people in Austin telling us how to run our schools,鈥� he adds. 鈥淧ublic education is not perfect, but I dare to say private education is not perfect either.鈥�
Saving schools 鈥� and towns
Superintendent Steve VanMatre started out as a janitor.听
After moving to Corpus Christi, he spent nights cleaning an elementary school while he earned college credits during the day. After a few years, he had enough credits to be a substitute teacher. For a few more years he did both, sometimes cleaning at night the school he had taught in earlier that day, as he progressed from teacher to principal and then superintendent.
After a decadeslong career in public education in South Texas, he retired.
Then he unretired to become superintendent of the Freer Independent School District (ISD) in 2014. A state committee had just completed a scathing report about the district鈥檚 inefficiency. It had already been consolidated once by the state, and now the threat of consolidation loomed again.
鈥淭here are ghost towns all across rural Texas of communities that don鈥檛 have school districts anymore,鈥� says Mr. VanMatre. By the time he left three years later, enrollment was stable, teacher retention had improved, and the town had passed a bond to build new facilities. So Mr. VanMatre stepped into an even worse situation 60 miles southeast to become superintendent of Premont ISD.
There was low enrollment, no certified teachers in third and fourth grades, and no varsity football program. The high school building didn鈥檛 have heat or hot water. One afternoon in January 2017, pulling lunch duty with Mike Gonzalez, the principal at the time, they could see their breath mist in the air as they talked. The district鈥檚 struggles . It received two closure notices from the state in six years.
鈥淚t hurt thinking that it wasn鈥檛 going to be around anymore,鈥� says Claudette Garcia, a Premont native and graduate, and now principal of Premont Collegiate High School.
In a rural town, the local school is central to the local identity 鈥� and it鈥檚 something they鈥檙e fiercely protective of. Premont saved its school district, and now it has transformed into one of the most attractive, high-performing rural districts in the state.
鈥淚f [rural schools] can find a way to provide multiple pathways, early college opportunities, have adequate facilities, they can compete with anybody,鈥� says Mr. VanMatre. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think a voucher system would hurt.鈥�
But more on that later.
GOP鈥檚 new litmus test
The idea for vouchers is often credited to libertarian economist Milton Friedman, who in a argued that government should fund education but allow parents to choose what 鈥渆ducational services鈥� the funds are spent on. Southern states put the proposal into action as a means to maintain toward the end of the Jim Crow era. In 1968, a U.S. Supreme Court struck down state choice programs as racially discriminatory.
In the 2000s, voucher programs gained renewed momentum 鈥� now with establishment of religion concerns. In a 2002 case, the U.S. Supreme Court opened the door, saying for the first time that the government could give parents public money to spend听at religious schools.听The high court in recent years has made it even easier for private religious schools to access public funds. Meanwhile, dissatisfaction with public education , particularly among .
The pandemic, and its aftermath, brought these concerns to a crescendo. 鈥淧arents鈥� rights鈥� became a cornerstone of Republican campaigns in 2022, and school choice became a political and cultural issue like never before.
鈥淚t became not just a fringe issue, but a litmus test issue for the right wing of the [GOP] in ways that it hadn鈥檛 been before,鈥� says Douglas Harris, a Tulane University professor and expert on the economics of education.
And in the past few years, voucher programs have exploded. What began in the 2000s as small, targeted programs in a few states to help low-income families or children with special needs is now expanding to include any family in a state.
Florida launched a scholarship program in 2019 providing vouchers for听. A year later the state raised the number to more than 46,600 students. This year, state lawmakers a bill that would lift requirements that families be lower-income or have children with special needs, potentially steering as much as $2.4 billion in public funds to private entities.
Arizona last year made its voucher programs 鈥� historically targeted to students in low-performing public schools, children with special needs, and children of active service members 鈥� open to every student in the state. This January, Iowa鈥檚 Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds an ESA program that will, after three years, be available to every family in the state.
Meanwhile, school choice options have rapidly expanded in Texas. The number of public charter schools in the state increased by 43% between 2014 and 2020 (now only California has more). Home schooling has also increased, including a 40% spike in 2020 and 2021, according to data collected by the Texas Home School Coalition, a nonprofit that promotes home schooling.
As these options have grown, public school enrollment in Texas . Decreased birth rates in the state are also a factor. Competition for funding 鈥� which is based on average daily attendance 鈥� is fierce. But a program giving some of those public funds to private education entities has always been a nonstarter 鈥� until now.
鈥淎ll in on school choice鈥�
鈥淭he governor and I are all in on school choice,鈥� said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in his inaugural address in January.听
Coming from a prominent school choice supporter, the only surprise in that sentence was the first two words.听
Gov. Greg Abbott 鈥� a conservative, but calculating, politician 鈥� led Texas for seven years without taking a clear position on vouchers. But in recent months he鈥檚 made it clear that听 an ESA program.
鈥淭hat will give parents the ability to choose the best education option for their child,鈥� he said during a January speech in Corpus Christi, The Texas Tribune .听
There is a reason Governor Abbott was quiet on this issue for so long. It鈥檚 because people like Rep. Ken King have been so loud.
Representative King is from Canadian, Texas 鈥� a town of 2,200 in a county of 3,200 in the Texas Panhandle. He has an 鈥楢鈥� rating from the National Rifle Association and has been endorsed by the Texas Alliance for Life. Among the bills he has sponsored this year is one that would impose 鈥渁n additional fee for the registration of electric and hybrid vehicles.鈥澨�
But he represents 19 mostly rural counties, and he doesn鈥檛 support a voucher program.
鈥淚f I have anything to say about it, it鈥檚 dead on arrival,鈥� he said at a Texas Tribune . 鈥淚t鈥檚 horrible for rural Texas. It鈥檚 horrible for all of Texas.鈥�
Mr. King鈥檚 staunch opposition to hurting small-town school funding is very much in line with his fellow rural Texans. Combined with opposition to vouchers from Democrats in the minority, school choice policies have struggled for votes.
Historically, 鈥渁 lot of [rural Texans] felt like eroding the school, the funding process, was going to be a problem for their community, so they rejected it,鈥� says Brandon Rottinghaus, a political scientist at the University of Houston.
But GOP officials around the country have ramped up criticism of public schools in the past two years 鈥� inspired by pandemic frustrations and concerns over how subjects like race, gender, and sexuality are taught.
鈥淚t鈥檚 [been] an electoral winner,鈥� says Professor Rottinghaus, even though it might not be voters鈥� top issue. Given those national trends, he adds, 鈥渋t鈥檚 a logical time 鈥� maybe the best time 鈥� for school choice proponents to act.鈥�
Do voucher programs work?
The most common criticism of ESA programs is that they drain money from the public school system, making it harder for public schools to compete. In the long run, they could create a two-tiered education system that disadvantages families who want to 鈥� or have to 鈥� keep their children in public schools. Critics also argue that the primary beneficiaries of vouchers tend to be families who already can afford private school.
鈥淪eventy-five percent of vouchers are going to end up going to kids who are already in private school,鈥� says Superintendent Harris. 鈥淭hat 75% [are] public funds taken from us.鈥�
School choice already exists in the area, he notes. There鈥檚 a charter school and four private schools in Texarkana, 25 miles away. Redirecting more public funds to a voucher program would make it even harder for rural schools to attract students.
鈥淚 just don鈥檛 see how vouchers would not harm public schools,鈥� he says.
Then there is a question of whether switching to private schools improves outcomes for those students.
鈥淪ome studies have shown positive student outcomes, and some have shown negative student outcomes,鈥� says Ben Erwin, senior policy analyst at the nonpartisan Education Commission of the States. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say there鈥檚 a consensus in the field.鈥�
鈥淎dvocates on both sides of this debate would argue potential benefits,鈥� he adds.
But promoters of school choice say widespread damage to public schools hasn鈥檛 materialized in states with long-standing voucher programs.
In the past decade, Arizona public schools have improved from near bottom to above the national average in reading and math, per the National Assessment of Educational Progress. For two decades, Florida public schools have stayed at or above the national average for reading and math.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not seeing mass layoffs, mass school closures. What you鈥檙e seeing is schools organically, over time, responding to parent needs and improving their performance,鈥� says Jason Bedrick, research fellow at the Center for Education Policy at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
Of course, the voucher programs in Arizona and Florida were both much smaller until this year.
Research has shown that students who opt into statewide voucher programs don鈥檛 improve. Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, and Florida all have statewide programs 鈥渟imilar to the kinds of programs that are being designed and implemented now around the country,鈥� says Dr. Harris at Tulane University.
Studies of the four programs found that, in all but Florida, 鈥渟tudents who use vouchers learn less ... than they would have had they just gone to public schools,鈥� he adds.
Other studies have reached different conclusions. An by EdChoice, a nonprofit advocating for expanding school choice, concludes that these programs have had mostly positive effects.
Voucher supporters also note that states choose the degree to which they fund the program, and can strike a balance between public and nonpublic funding. In Texas, with its history of rural support for public schools, a compromise will likely be necessary.
鈥淭here are ways to satisfy all stakeholders here ... especially for the neediest students,鈥� says Alexander Salter, an associate professor of economics at Texas Tech University. 鈥淪chool choice is a complement to, not a substitute for, the traditional public school system.鈥�
Will the money come with expectations?
In Cushing, a rural town 100 miles due south of Atlanta, Brandon Enos thinks 鈥渃ompetition makes us all better.鈥� But he has one important caveat.
鈥淚f you add the accountability, I鈥檓 all for it,鈥� says Dr. Enos, the Cushing ISD superintendent. 鈥淢oney collected from taxpayers shouldn鈥檛 be given to private entities where there鈥檚 no accountability.鈥�
Private educators generally aren鈥檛 subject to the same standards that public schools are 鈥� and the current bill doesn鈥檛 require them to release test results or account for how they spent taxpayers鈥� money,听听The Texas Tribune. Private schools and home-schools can pick and choose their students, enjoy less oversight in terms of curriculum and student progress, and discriminate against current or prospective students in ways that public schools can鈥檛.
Parent Kathy Covey has the same concern 鈥� but from a different angle.
While Superintendent Harris has been working in East Texas public schools for the past 30 years, Ms. Covey has been home-schooling her eight children in Mauriceville.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had to finance ourselves, and it can be difficult,鈥� she says.
She would be interested in an ESA, but with one big question.
鈥淲hen the government starts handing out money, ... we鈥檙e accountable then to them,鈥� she says. 鈥淗ow much then would [the state] feel like they have a right to intervene?鈥�
If Texas does create an ESA, Hope Owens doesn鈥檛 intend to make use of it.
Ms. Owens is president of the Texarkana Organization of Resolute 海角大神 Homeschoolers (TORCH). She and her two children are part of the network of about two dozen local families who home-school. She鈥檚 鈥減retty content鈥� with the size.
鈥淚 guess I鈥檓 a person who likes the government staying out of my business as much as possible,鈥� she says.
Her husband is a robotics teacher at a public junior high school.
鈥淚 felt both options were there, but it came down to giving [them] a personal and a 海角大神 education,鈥� she adds. 鈥淚 do feel like we鈥檙e able to shelter our kids more.鈥�
If the Texas legislature does pursue an ESA program, specifics around accountability measures and the division of state funding will have to be worked out.听
In Idaho last month, the Republican-dominated state legislature an ESA law largely because those kinds of specifics weren鈥檛 clarified. It鈥檚 a sign that, even in solidly conservative states, voucher programs aren鈥檛 a slam dunk.
The proposed ESA program 鈥渃ould have serious negative consequences for many Texas school districts, especially those in rural areas,鈥� writes state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, a Democrat whose district includes Freer and Premont ISDs, in an email.
The loss of per-student funding for every child who opts out of their local public school 鈥渃ould have a ripple effect, potentially leading to decreased funding for rural districts,鈥� she adds. 鈥淏ecause rural schools already face funding disparities compared to their urban counterparts, this program could exacerbate these inequities.鈥�
Voucher advocates claim that, because rural areas tend to have few options besides the local public school, those areas wouldn鈥檛 experience much change. Mr. Bedrick at the Heritage Foundation argues that it could keep families in small towns.
鈥淲ithout school choice, their options are keep their child in that school knowing their child isn鈥檛 getting the best education they can get, or move,鈥� he says.
鈥淭his can really help families stay in the communities they know and love.鈥澨�
In The Zone
In South Texas, members of the Rural Schools Innovation Zone (RSIZ) believe they鈥檙e showing how rural public schools can give students the best education possible.
The first thing to note is that the buses have Wi-Fi.
The Zone is a way for smaller districts to team up and provide the services of a large district. But this creates challenges, like travel. When there are only so many hours in the day, and two of those are spent driving between campuses, that time is needed to study.
On this Thursday morning in late February, most of the 17 Premont students are chatting, napping, or listening to headphones as they drive south on a two-lane highway, hundreds of miles of ranchland sprawling around them.
Fifteen minutes later, the students step off a bus at Falfurrias High School. It鈥檚 time for welding class.听
The Ignite Technical Institute 鈥� which trains students in welding, construction, and electrical systems 鈥� is one of five 鈥渁cademies鈥� offered as part of the Zone by the three participating districts. Falfurrias also hosts the Junior ROTC program; Premont hosts the STEM and education training programs; and Freer hosts the medical training academy. The programs all enable the students to earn college credits or trade certifications, for free.
鈥淭he whole premise behind the Zone is that just because you go to a small school, or you live in a small town, you shouldn鈥檛 have your options limited,鈥� says Ms. Garcia, the Premont high school principal.
It has taken a couple of years for the Zone to establish itself, but results are visible. For one, students are succeeding in the academies more than they used to.
Freer used to have a welding program and a nursing certification program. Neither was doing very well, says Conrad Cantu, the Freer ISD superintendent, not least because they couldn鈥檛 be a high priority for the small, resource-strapped district.
鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 even get kids to test [for nursing]. It was just kind of on the side,鈥� he adds. 鈥淲ith 200 kids, it鈥檚 hard. We鈥檙e just trying to have school.鈥�
By joining the Zone, Freer was able to send its students to Ignite at Falfurrias and cut its own welding program 鈥� which then allowed it to improve and expand the medical program. There are now three dedicated classrooms for the Next Generation Medical Academy, with some equipment that nearby hospitals don鈥檛 even have.
And the three participating districts have seen student outcomes improve, particularly in terms of college, career, and military readiness.
Some Premont seniors, for example, spend part of their Thursdays at the school鈥檚 Grow Your Own Educator Academy. The next afternoon, they鈥檙e an hour away in Freer, at the Next Generation Medical Academy, practicing how to insert an IV.
鈥淭here is no way any one of those school districts could have supported five academies unilaterally,鈥� adds Mr. VanMatre, the former Premont superintendent.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e keeping [schools鈥橾 identities, you鈥檙e managing resources better, and you鈥檙e opening up opportunities for kids.鈥�
But the Zone is still facing challenges 鈥� including an uncertain future.
Four years in, 鈥渘ot everyone is on board with the Zone,鈥� says Mr. Gonzalez, the RSIZ executive director and former Premont high school principal. There have been arguments over scheduling, funding, discipline, even dress code. (Boys are allowed to wear earrings at Premont, but not at Falfurrias; Falfurrias athletes play games during the day, but Premont and Freer athletes don鈥檛.) Fortunately, there haven鈥檛 been any fights.
The Zone needs a certain number of students to be viable. Premont and Freer have committed to at least two more years, but Falfurrias has been on one-year contracts. At the end of this school year, it will decide if it wants to stay involved. If it leaves, the programs might become too great a financial burden for Premont and Freer to bear.听
At a baseball tournament hosted by Freer, in the bleachers, Isabel Perez strikes a note of jealousy and gratitude. Her son, a junior on the Falfurrias baseball team, has been learning welding and electrical systems in the Ignite program.
鈥淚t鈥檚 awesome,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 wish they would鈥檝e had it back in my time.鈥�
听He does welding and electrical work at home, which they鈥檙e remodeling, and at their ranch, she adds. But he doesn鈥檛 do it for free. (鈥淒on鈥檛 work for free鈥� is a soft skill all the academies teach.)
Ms. Perez doesn鈥檛 mind.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great opportunity for all the kids to ... be independent and get their education early,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd it helps the parents, regardless of if the parents have the money.鈥澨�
Ironically, Premont and Freer have been sports rivals for generations. Now they take classes together. The JROTC students even perform the color guard, together, before their schools play each other.
鈥淭he night we played in Freer [in football], the color guard was there, and it was kids from all three districts in the color guard,鈥� says Principal Garcia.
鈥淥ur teams were fixing to get on the field and battle it out, but right before that, they were carrying the flag together,鈥� she adds. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really powerful.鈥�
