AUSTIN -- Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to veto the House school choice plan on Sunday, saying he would call lawmakers back for special sessions if they don't expand the scope.
The governor's warning shot comes hours before the House education committee is set to take up the voucher-like bill that's struggled to get momentum in the Republican-led chamber. It would give families taxpayer money to send their children to private schools. But it only applies to students with special needs or who attend low-performing public schools, according to a summary of the proposal obtained by The Dallas Morning News.
Abbott, who's thrown his political weight behind the push for education savings accounts, said the proposal doesn't apply to enough Texas students.
"Empowering parents to choose the best educational path for their child remains an essential priority this session," the third-term Republican said in a written statement issued late in the evening. "This latest version does little to provide meaningful school choice, and legislators deserve to know that it would be vetoed if it reached my desk."
The legislative session ends on Memorial Day. A spokesperson for House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The GOP-led Senate has already passed legislation giving public school students an annual $8,000 education savings account to spend on private school tuition, tutoring or other educational materials.
But there's been little movement in the House, where rural Republicans and Democrats have historically united to kill voucher-like efforts over concerns they would divert money away from public schools.
The latest House plan is scaled back from one floated last week. The chamber voted to block the House Public Education Committee from convening a late-night meeting to take it up.
On Monday, the committee is holding a public hearing at 8 a.m. to consider the new proposal. Only invited testimony will be allowed.
The new version applies only to about 703,000 students with special needs and an estimated 90,000 students who attend public campuses rated "F" by the Texas Education Agency, according to a two-page summary of the proposal.
It's not clear how much funding each student would receive, but overall, the initiative would cost roughly $200 million in the first year. In addition to the education savings accounts, the bill would replace the STAAR test despised by many teachers and parents.