Abbott packs house for ‘parent empowerment’ event; protesters say voucher-like program would hurt public schools
Gov. Greg Abbott speaks to a crowd at Denton Calvary Academy during “Parent Empowerment Night” on Monday. He came to town to discuss his educational priorities and to press for education savings accounts, which would allow parents to use tax monies that would have been used for their children in public school and apply them to private, charter or magnet schools, or for home schooling or other alternative education and materials.
Karen MacIntyre, a Denton resident who has worked for and taught in private schools, protested Monday against Gov. Greg Abbott's initiative to divert public school funds for private, charter and home schooling.
A capacity crowd prays during the opening of Gov. Greg Abbott’s “Parent Empowerment Night” on Monday at Denton Calvary Academy.
Protesters gather on the roadside at Denton Calvary Academy for Gov. Greg Abbott’s “Parent Empowerment Night” on Monday.
Gov. Greg Abbott was met with protesters outside of Denton Calvary Academy, where he spoke during the local stop of his "Parent Empowerment Tour." The event was presented by a coalition of conservative groups, with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank, taking the lead at the Denton event.
But the number of protestors was eclipsed by the near-capacity crowd that gathered to listen to Abbott make a case for "educational choice" through specialized savings accounts that would allow families to use taxpayer funds to send their public school students to charter schools, magnet schools, or to pay for online education or home-schooling.
The two groups that appeared at the private Christian school reflect the state's political divide over education. The protesters were younger – college age and mostly white, with one wrapped in a rainbow flag. Abbott's supporters skewed older and were mostly white. Protesters saw the governor's initiative as furthering wealth inequality, while supporters applauded Abbott's insistence that educational freedom imposes market-style competition into education, and his belief that competition drives innovation.
Outside, protesters lined the northeast corner of the Denton Calvary Academy building. A few drivers honked as they passed the signs, pumping a fist out their windows. A man on a bicycle rang his bell and waved at the protesters as he passed. The signs showed objections to funding private education with public money, and some called Abbott out for not taking a stronger stance on gun reform. Inside the school, a Denton Calvary Academy student who opened the event with a prayer spent most of his petition asking for consolation for the children and victims of the deadly shooting on a private Christian school campus Monday in Nashville, Tennessee.
One group of protesters said they oppose tax money supporting private religious schools.
"Churches shouldn't get tax money," said a protester named Martin. "They don't pay taxes, and they shouldn't get tax breaks of any kind."
"This [expletive] church doesn't need my tax money," said a protester named John. He later shouted at Abbott during the governor's address.
Other protesters said diverting money from public schools would mean less money for teachers and crucial programs, like school breakfast and lunch programs.
Karen MacIntyre, a Denton resident who has experience as a Montessori teacher, said she was protesting the use of public money for private schools.
"As someone who has both worked in private schools, been supported by private schools and sent my child to private schools, I've never expected government spending to help me do that, or to pay my salary," said MacIntyre, who said she grew up in public schools and sees both sides of the issue. She also said that with private school education costs often being high, vouchers won't help the poorest families afford private school tuition.
"I see both sides of it all, and I am not for vouchers. I think that public school funding should be used for public schools. I'm very adamant about it, even as a private school teacher. It's just not the government's job to pay for private school," MacIntyre said.
Chris Lam stood near the street with his young daughter. Both held signs saying "No public money in private schools." Lam said his wife works in public education and their daughters attend Denton ISD schools. Lam said he thinks Abbott's initiative is meant to make "full-blown school vouchers" more acceptable to Texans.
"The idea is to make this palatable to the public with the thought of expanding the program, to not just for first-time transfers to private, but to just essentially conflate public and private education," he said. "I think public schools are doing a significantly better job than they ought to be doing with the funding they have.They are underfunded and they are still outperforming."
Inside, hundreds of supporters applauded enthusiastically when state Rep. Lynn Stucky introduced Abbott, calling him "my brother in Christ, the great Gov. Greg Abbott."
Abbott was met with some resistance, with a few protesters shouting at him. He said that protesters shouting at him is seen as silencing, and inspires heightened support from state legislators for his educational priorities. He said his initiative comes down to a simple idea: Parents are in charge of their children's education.
"Let me start out by underscoring something very important," Abbott said from behind a lectern and a sign saying "Parents matter." "I am a big supporter of public education in Texas. I went to public schools ... and I wouldn't have any other way. I spent all my time growing up in Longview, Texas, and then I went to junior high in high school in Duncanville, Texas. And then on top of that, I'm a big supporter of public schools because I know that they've worked hard to achieve success. ... Texas ranks No. 1 in the United States for the most National Blue Ribbon schools, more than any other state in the entire country."
Abbott spent most of his time at the microphone pressing for school choice and education savings accounts, saying that choice disciplines all schools through competition.
Abbott also brought up two popular boogeymen: "wokeism," or the belief that leftist ideologies are corrupting curriculum with divisive tactics, and the belief that rogue players are sexualizing children. While Abbott didn't specify his meaning when he referred to sexualizing Texas schoolchildren, he has affirmed conservative activists' beliefs that schools should limit instruction about sexuality and gender.
Abbott said if there could only be one thing taught in Texas classrooms, it would be the reasons why the United States is where it is today, and to promote those causes. Other speakers said public schools are separating Texas classrooms according to hair texture, skin color, victim and oppressor.
Abbott used a line that has been met with enthusiasm on other tour stops.
"Our schools are for education, not indoctrination," he said, to applause.
Supporters who attended said they support public education and choice. A program director who works in technology for Lewisville ISD declined to give her name, but said she's watched public schools lose ground in her nearly 40 years in public education. She said over time, parents stopped supporting teachers and administrators and started threatening them when faced with their children's disciplinary disruptions. She said school choice could pressure public school leaders to take more decisive action with students who behave in disruptive or aggressive ways.
But she also said she believes "wokeism" is a threat, and that rogue teachers are introducing content into their classrooms that sexualize children, but by stealth. She alleged that teachers are using classroom collection books to do that, but didn't say she saw such materials in Lewisville classrooms.
"It's all to normalize pedophilia," she said. "That's where this is going."
As Kevin Claunch waited in line with his family to greet the governor, he said he and his wife chose to enroll their three children in Denton Calvary Academy because they want their children to have a Christian education, and they especially like the private school's university model.
"We don't just want them to learn and study the curriculum," he said. "We want them to learn what it means to be a good person."
Claunch said he and his wife are both public school graduates who appreciate their education.
"We're definitely not anti-public education," he said.
They have considered enrolling their children in public schools because of the wealth of sports and extracurricular activities there. They return to Calvary Academy because they spend a portion of their day at school and some at home, where parents can spend more time with them and engage in the curriculum.
"But they really enjoy it here," Claunch said.
Claunch said he believes Abbott's initiatives could bring school choice to families who couldn't otherwise afford it.
"I think what resonates with me the most is being able to have that freedom to decide where your kids get to go to school, and having everybody have that freedom, not just people who cannot afford it," he said. "Anything you have to pay for, you have to look at as an expense. [Private school] would be considered a significant expense for anybody. I don't care what you do for a living."
The evening ended with an official from the Texas Public Policy Foundation asking attendees to contact their state legislators and press them to support Abbott's school choice agenda. They also directed attendees to visit the governor's website for the intitiative.
LUCINDA BREEDING-GONZALES can be reached at 940-566-6877 and via Twitter at @LBreedingDRC.
