AUSTIN, Texas — The 88th Texas legislative session ended more than three months ago, but that doesn't mean lawmakers are done working.
Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed on Tuesday he plans to call another special legislative session next month for lawmakers to address "school choice." It's a topic Texas lawmakers couldn't agree on back in the spring.
"Bureaucrats in Austin, they don't know which school is best for a child. Even your local teacher or a principal or superintendent, they don't know better than a parent which school is best for a child," Abbott said.
Many expect "school choice" legislation to create education savings accounts, more commonly known as school vouchers, which typically act as State-funded scholarships to help kids attend private schools.
That's a concern for public school leaders.
"They want to underfund, defund and upend public education. And so, first of all, they don't fund. We're $900 behind where we were in 2017," said Ken Zarifis, the president of Education Austin.
Teachers' union leaders like Zarifis say funding for Texas public schools has been lacking for years and that this is all a political game.
"This isn't going to help someone in a neighborhood school that can't afford a private education. The voucher won't be enough. This is to put money in his funders' pockets to augment their private education," Zarifis said.
Abbott is asking faith leaders to use their power to share more about this issue in churches.
"On Sunday, Oct. 15, if you would speak to your congregations about the issue of parental rights, parental involvement and school choice," Abbott said.
Zarifis said his own union members and parents are outraged.
"People want their neighborhood schools funded. You've got to. That's what we base public education in the state of Texas on, and so there's an enormous anger out there," Zarifis said.
While there's no firm date for the start of this special session, Abbott said if lawmakers can't pass a bill on this in October, he'll simply call them back again.