TX Sen. Ted Cruz responds to GOP opposition, calls school vouchers a 'civil rights issue'

Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Mar 20, 2025

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Texas Sen. Ted Cruz cheered state lawmakers’ push for school vouchers during a March 20 visit to the Texas Capitol in Austin, addressing opposition from some Republicans who see plans before the House and Senate as big government.

Cruz, a Republican from Houston, called “school choice” the “the single most important issue before the Texas Legislature,” as he spoke to reporters. Earlier in the day, he was recognized by the Texas House of Representatives for his work around around the issue. The author of the chamber’s education savings account proposal introduced Cruz, who is serving his third term in Washington

“School choice, I believe, is the civil rights issue of the 21st century,” Cruz said.

The Texas House and Senate are considering similar bills to create education savings accounts, a voucher-like program that would let parents use state dollars for their child’s private or home schooled education. The funds are prioritized based on income and whether the student has a disability.

Supporters say the proposals give parents a say in their child’s education and provide access to educational opportunities, while opponents warn of harm to public schools.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been a vocal advocate for “school choice” in recent years, opposing Republicans in the 2024 primaries who didn’t support education savings accounts. The issue of vouchers has divided the Republican Party in the past, including during the 2023 legislative session and special sessions when proposals faced opposition from some House Republicans.

“Let me be clear right now,” Cruz said. “If I believed it would destroy public schools, I would oppose choice.”

He said competition among schools will improve outcomes in public schools.

Some Republicans are opposing the bills — House Bill 3 and Senate Bill 2 — because they see the proposals as growing government and creating a subsidy.

Lawmakers are doing the opposite of creating another government program, Cruz said. Instead, they are empowering parents and kids and giving them control of their education, Cruz said.

Cruz said colleges already have all sorts of scholarships and Pell Grants, a federal grant given to students based on financial need that do not have to be repaid.

“At the end of the day, that’s what this is,” Cruz said. “Except instead of 18-year-olds getting scholarships to go be a freshman in college, it’s 17-year-olds getting scholarships to go be senior in high school.”

Asked specifically about the idea that education savings accounts are a subsidy from the state, Cruz countered that Texas spends an “enormous amount on education” and that education is a responsibility the state has undertaken.

“I think that’s a legitimate responsibility for state government, and if the state is going to undertake that responsibility, it should do it in a way that works,” Cruz said. “It should do so in a way that’s effective, and we’ve seen school choice makes the system a whole lot more effective.”

Texas is on the verge of a “historic moment” when it passes “the biggest and most consequential school choice program in the entire country,” Cruz said.

“That matters enormously,” he continued. “I believe every single child in Texas deserves a right to an excellent education, regardless of their race, of their ethnicity, regardless of their wealth or their ZIP code. Wherever that little boy or that little girl lives, he or she deserves a chance at an excelled education and at a future.”

A good comparison is Brown v. Board of Education, the court case that found it unconstitutional to separate students in public schools on the basis of race, Cruz said. That ruling was the “absolute right decision” and a “landmark civil rights decision,” he said.

Looking ahead to now, some wealthy kids can get a good education by living in a expensive neighborhood with great public schools or by going to private schools, Cruz said.

“The kids of the rich have always had school choice,” he said. “What this bill is about is giving low income kids the same ability to choose an excellent education that the rich have always had.”

Cruz also announced a six-figure ad buy supporting 14 House lawmakers who have been supportive of “school choice.”