AUSTIN (KXAN) — Another special legislative session is now underway in Texas focused on lowering property taxes, but the governor already signaled he plans to give lawmakers more work in the future. He would like them to come back at some point and create education savings accounts, which are often called school vouchers and failed to pass earlier this year during the regular session.
The proposal to use taxpayer dollars to help Texas families pay for private schools drew much opposition this year from mostly rural Republicans as well as Democrats. However, a newly-released poll showed a majority of Texas voters support the idea of establishing what Gov. Greg Abbott described as a broader “school choice” program.
Pollsters from the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Politics Project surveyed 1,547 voters between June 2-12. They found that 58% supported starting a voucher, educational savings account or other “school choice” program in Texas. Opposition to it stood at 27%, while 15% had no opinion.
Support for vouchers is highest, though, among those who identified as Republicans in the poll. Among the GOP respondents, 77% backed the idea compared to the 36% of Democrats and 56% of independents. A plurality of Democratic voters (47%) said they opposed the establishment of a voucher program in Texas, the highest percentage of the other voters polled.
People can read more online about the insights voters shared on other education policies during the June poll conducted by UT Austin and the Texas Politics Project.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Another special legislative session is now underway in Texas focused on lowering property taxes, but the governor already signaled he plans to give lawmakers more work in the future. He would like them to come back at some point and create education savings accounts, which are often called school vouchers and failed to pass earlier this year during the regular session.
The proposal to use taxpayer dollars to help Texas families pay for private schools drew much opposition this year from mostly rural Republicans as well as Democrats. However, a newly-released poll showed a majority of Texas voters support the idea of establishing what Gov. Greg Abbott described as a broader “school choice” program.
Pollsters from the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Politics Project surveyed 1,547 voters between June 2-12. They found that 58% supported starting a voucher, educational savings account or other “school choice” program in Texas. Opposition to it stood at 27%, while 15% had no opinion.
Support for vouchers is highest, though, among those who identified as Republicans in the poll. Among the GOP respondents, 77% backed the idea compared to the 36% of Democrats and 56% of independents. A plurality of Democratic voters (47%) said they opposed the establishment of a voucher program in Texas, the highest percentage of the other voters polled.
People can read more online about the insights voters shared on other education policies during the June poll conducted by UT Austin and the Texas Politics Project.