Texas GOP celebrates ‘education freedom’ school choice victory by cracking down on teacher unions

After a decades-long battle with Democrats, teachers unions, and even a few Republicans, Texas conservatives are celebrating the successful launch of what could be the nation’s largest school choice program.

The Lone Star State’s school choice program, called Texas Education Freedom Accounts, has seen record-setting enrollment in its early days. Within one hour of the program opening, 8,000 people had registered. By the end of the day, it had managed to register 42,000 and three days in, it was sitting at about 62,000. The program is expected to reach 100,000 by the March 17 deadline.

For Texas Acting Superintendent Kelly Hancock, the program’s executive director, the program’s early success represents a breakthrough in what he calls “educational freedom.”

“We see in the State of Texas, we lead the nation in economic freedom, we may lead the nation in educational freedom,” he said in an interview with Fox News Digital.

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School choice has been a priority piece of legislation for Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed a measure establishing the program into law last May. Under the program, families will receive $10,000 a year to help pay for their child’s private school education or the cost of home and virtual learning programs. Children with disabilities can receive up to $30,000 a year.

Although it showed early signs of success, getting a school choice program to pass in a state the size of Texas was not easy. As a parent herself, Hancock said she has been an advocate for school choice for the past three decades.

“We’ve come close at times in the state of Texas, where we thought the votes were there, and then we’re not going to get there. And frankly, a few years ago, before Governor Abbott got involved, I was like, ‘Okay, I don’t know if we’re ever going to get there,'” he admitted.

While supporters believe the measure gives parents more options by allowing them to pull their children out of low-performing public schools in favor of more selective public or private schools, others say it takes financial resources away from Texas public school students and subsidizes private education for wealthy families.

The plan saw strong opposition from the state’s leading teacher unions, including the Texas American Federation of Teachers (Texas AFT) and the Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA).

Ahead of the plan’s launch, the Texas AFT released a statement calling it a “billion-dollar growing boondoggle.”

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Gov. Greg Abbott laughs as he arrives during a bill signing at the State Capitol on April 23, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

TSTA argued that Texas could not adequately fund both its public schools and school choice program, saying, “Our underfunded public schools need every tax dollar that lawmakers spend on K-12 education.”

In a statement shared with Fox News Digital, TSTA President Ovidia Molina vowed to “continue to work to kill this costly and discriminatory program.”

He criticized the government for “many” of the religious schools that are authorized to participate in the process of being Christian, he said, “restrict admission or choose children of their religion.” He also said that “some of these schools refuse to admit LGBTQ students.”

“These schools will use public tax dollars to discriminate against children whose families pay these tax dollars. Public schools do not discriminate. They accept every student who lives in their district, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, family income or anything, and only public schools should receive our tax money,” said Molina.

Hancock, however, pushed back on the idea that the program pits public and private schools against each other. He said Texas, operating on a constitutionally required limited budget, was able to fund school choice “at the same time that we had a record investment in public education and $4 billion in teacher salaries, which was a record investment to go directly to paying our teachers there in the public sector.”

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The Texas State Capitol in Austin, where Isaiah Martin is being held, refused to step down during his testimony on Thursday. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

“We want to be at the forefront, not only in this program, but in general education, our two public schools, chartered schools, local schools, and private schools,” he explained. “We are committed to providing that investment, and our eyes are on it.”

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He described opposition to the program as an attempt to maintain the status quo and eliminate competition in education.

“It’s normal pushing, and the truth doesn’t change, there is no competition, we want the system as it is, we don’t want any changes in it,” he said. “Look, I’m a businessman, and I’d be happy if in the business I’m in I had limited or no competition, I had government protections, that I was funded by the government, that lived under all those protections. I mean, let’s face it, who wouldn’t want those protections? But that’s not fair … for the students, for the kids.”

“The best thing about kids is competition,” he continued.

In addition, he believes that the large number of registrations proves how much the program is needed.

“I think that by opening this and the great turnout that we’ve had, the record turnout that we’ve gotten, that shows that we’re meeting the needs of the customer and the customer is Texans.”

Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.