San Antonio Standard

A Republican state senator from Southeast Texas said many parents have expressed support toward school choice, per a report from San Antonio CBS affiliate KENS. 

Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) said the legislature has received feedback on the matter.

“It’s, without a doubt, caught a grassfire of support and I think it’s just different than before,” the senator, whose district includes portions of Montgomery, Harris, Chambers, Jefferson and Galveston counties, said in the report.

Per KENS, Creighton asserted that efforts to reach out to rural Republicans have been successful. 

Proponents said school choice allows parents to use their tax dollars to enroll their children in private or charter schools, the station reported.

Austin CBS affiliate KEYE reported that Gov. Greg Abbott, like virtually all of his party, endorses school choice. 

Critics of the concept claimed it would deprive public schools of funding, the station reported. 

The Texas Politics Project's Joshua Blank told KEYE that the current legislative session marks the first time Abbott, who's in his third term in the state's highest office, "has really put his weight" behind school vouchers.

KENS reported that Creighton said the rise in momentum for support can be attributed to efforts behind the scenes. 

“It’s a new day for how we look at education in Texas going forward,” he said in the report. “It’s really surprised me that a lot of those sort of rigid lines and narratives, we’ve broken down a lot of barriers in this particular topic and many are coming to the table that haven’t been at the table before.”