Gov. Abbott urges Texas pastors to get into school choice fight

AUSTIN, Texas - Gov. Abbott spoke to a group of Texas pastors urging them to help his effort to get school choice legislation passed this session.

Abbott's call for action preaching to preachers plays into the pushback that he, and other supporters of school choice, are now getting.

What they're saying:

Governor Greg Abbott got a warm welcome Thursday at a conference of church pastors in north Austin. It was a political appearance, but with a message that also sounded like a Sunday sermon.

"Texas would not be the Texas we are today without pastors playing such an integral role in every policy issue that we've been fighting on. You know that we live in a country at a time, and even a state at a time when we are being strained by the battle of true values," said Governor Abbott.

The Governor called on the clergy at this conference to help him push through the state legislature a school choice plan.

"Those House members are being bombarded by the education monopolist, by the institutionalist, by the status quo, who don't want to let go, who do not want to give parents their rightful power to be able to choose the school does best for their child," said Gov. Abbott. 

Abbott spoke about the support for school choice he saw during recent trips to private schools. 

The other side:

But earlier in the week, House Democrats also took note of those trips. During a news conference, State Rep. James Talarico (D) Round Rock claimed none involved visits to a public school.

"Last month, Greg Abbott rallied for vouchers at an expensive private school at San Antonio. Meanwhile, in the very same community, three public schools are slated for closure," said Talarico.

Polls have consistently shown there is broad support across Texas for school choice, but the House and Senate plans only have enough money for about 100,000 students. There are more than five million students in Texas public schools. The plans are also universal only in the application process.

Austin Democrat Gina Hinojosa suggested opinions could change by moving the debate out from under the capitol dome.

"So, I say if they are so sure this is what Texans want, let Texans vote. Let Texans decide," said Rep. Hinojosa.

Dig deeper:

Facing a tough vote was what Attorney General Ken Paxton talked about at the pastors’ conference. He indicated his legal battles were part of a larger political culture war at the capitol, and, like Governor Abbott, urged the religious leaders to get involved. 

"No matter what the pressure is. No matter how bad it looks. I am a testimony that there is against impossible odds. I should not have survived all of that. And believe me, there, sitting over there right now going. How did he get through this? Because they don't understand it. But I do, and you do," said Paxton.

Attorney General Paxton is still waiting for the whistleblower lawsuit against him to wrap up. It stalled after he decided not to contest the accusations made by his formal employees.

Ironically, some of those accusations are similar to the impeachment charges that were dismissed by the Senate last year. The civil case is one of the legal victories Paxton suggested Thursday is the result of divine intervention.