Support ESAs on the House Floor
Moms and Dads,
This is our moment! This is our San Jacinto! This is our time to stand united, be prepared and fight with all we’ve got to overtake what is rightfully ours: the right to select the best education for our children.
Here’s what to expect this week, how our opposition is going to try to play some tricky procedural games, and how we can still win:
Friday is the expected House vote on Education Savings Accounts (ESAs). Our opponents are counting on us not to show up, so we need every single parent from across Texas in the House Gallery on Friday morning!
Here’s what to expect: HB 1 empowers parents, provides billions in new spending for public schools, and creates benefits to recruit, retain, and reward the best teachers in Texas. But opponents of ESAs WILL try to remove the parental empowerment component from the bill. This is what they do EVERY time: keep all the money and leave nothing for parents.
These unions are so extreme Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a guy who’s dealt with dictators, oligarchs, and tyrants, said this of Randi Weingarten, the head of America’s largest teachers union:
“I tell the story often — I get asked ‘Who’s the most dangerous person in the world? Is it Chairman Kim, is it Xi Jinping?' The most dangerous person in the world is Randi Weingarten. It’s not a close call. If you ask, ‘Who’s the most likely to take this republic down?’ It would be the teachers unions, and the filth that they’re teaching our kids, and the fact that they don’t know math and reading or writing.”
We will not stand for this, moms and dads!
The unions have even said publicly that they are willing to block legislation that increases public education funding by billions of dollars because it includes ESAs. That shows their problem with ESAs is not about the money, it’s about control. We need to fight back and ensure that parents are the ones in the drivers seat, not unions. The unions want so badly to be in control that one of their representatives accidentally let slip what he was actually for when he said, “I am here to protect the institution.” That’s right, he was there to protect the system that gave him a cushy paycheck—not provide better education for Texas students, not help parents. Just protect his cash cow.
So, how do we win?
We stick together and continue advocating for our children and the next generation of Texans who need options to ensure they reach their fullest potential.
We have the momentum, and we have the power to stand together.
“Let’s show every legislator just how much we love our children and will fight for every parent to have access to the very best education for their child. Click HERE to contact a key State Representative to encourage them to support Governor Abbott’s ESA school choice plan.
JOIN US on the East Capitol Lawn at 8:30 AM Friday, 11/17. We’ll be handing out breakfast tacos and t-shirts before heading into the House Gallery to watch the potential floor proceedings for ESAs. You heard it here first, folks—we believe that there will be a historic vote for ESAs on the floor of the House starting sometime after 9:00 AM on Friday. Show up and stand up for all of the millions of Texas parents!
Tell these members to stand with YOU, not the unions trying to use power and money to silence us. To learn more about ESAs or find other ways to get involved, visit txparentsmatter.com.
Mandy Drogin
Texas Public Policy Foundation