“The governor, the team and our allies continue to work on this,” Carney told me. “We’re getting closer every week. When we have the trial and everything else behind us, then the governor will call a special session, probably in October, and we’ll get everything done.”The "Big 3" leaders -- the governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker -- set the tone. In the past, sometimes, two have paired off against the third in acrimony over big issues.
The big question, however, is what can be done to mollify rural Republicans who take pride in their public schools and are skeptical about the benefit of a voucher-like program.that school choice won’t hurt public schools.$8,000 education savings accounts, or ESAs, for families to spend on private school tuition, tutoring and books or other materials. School funding is largely tied to enrollment.
Similar to his position at the end of the last legislative session, Abbott isn’t interested in a diminished plan.face-saving, piddling amount,” Carney said. “There are a lot of kids that need to be helped, and ultimately everybody deserves to have school choice.” There’s also about $4 billion in budgeted but uncommitted money for public education that could be used as a bargaining chip.“There’s teacher pay raises and additional money for rural schools and a whole bunch of other opportunities to really make some tremendous reforms in education,” Carney said. “I’m sure that will be part of the package and discussion.”
Voucher-like programs have been a tough sell in Texas, and Abbott, usually cautious with his politics, has put his political reputation on the line to make sure a bill gets to his desk. During the legislative session, heAt that time, Rep. Cody Harris, a Palestine Republican