Plurality of Texas voters say they support school voucher-like program
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Loading... - Louis Robert
- 03 Mar 2023
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The poll from the University of Texas at Austin, released Thursday, found a plurality of voters support redirecting tax revenue to help parents pay to school their kids outside the traditional public education system.
A new poll sheds light on how Texas voters feel about one of the most hotly debated proposals of the legislative session so far: letting parents use tax dollars to take their kids out of public schools.
The University of Texas at Austin survey, released Thursday, found 46% of voters supported the idea, while 41% opposed it. The 5-point margin was unchanged since the pollsters last asked the question in April 2022, but the political landscape has shifted significantly since then.
Gov. Greg Abbott has thrown his weight behind the proposal and is traveling the state to pitch parents on it, particularly in rural communities. The idea has historically faced opposition in the Legislature from Democrats and rural Republicans who are fiercely protective of public schools in their districts.
The latest survey was conducted in mid-February and included 1,200 registered voters. Notably, it did not find any rural divide; a plurality of rural voters — 46% — backed the proposal, compared to a plurality of 49% of urban voters. Suburban voters were more split, with 44% supporting and 45% opposing.
While that is good news for Republicans like Abbott, the poll also found the idea is not a high priority for voters when it comes to education this session. Sixty-four percent of voters said it was an important issue for the Legislature to address in the K-12 public education system, ranking eighth among 10 issues provided. The No. 1 issue was school safety, which 94% of voters called important, followed by “teacher pay/teacher retention” at 89% and “curriculum content” at 85%.
Abbott has named both “education freedom” and school safety as emergency items for the session, designating them as top priorities that lawmakers can pass off the floor immediately. But he has put the most effort into promoting “school choice” legislation lately, crisscrossing the state to try to show lawmakers the public support it enjoys.
Abbott regularly cites the 2022 Republican primary proposition on the issue, which passed overwhelmingly, including in rural Texas. Read More…
