ODESSA, Texas — Texas Governor Greg Abbott made a stop at First Odessa Christian Academy in Odessa Thursday night to continue his push for parental empowerment in education.
Governor Abbott named education freedom as an emergency item for the 88th legislative session last month during his state of the state address, and he spoke about this topic.
He spoke passionately about giving parents control over where their children go to school and the curriculum they are taught.
One of the many points he made was about reforming education and getting back to the basics, saying that school is for education, not indoctrination.
“Mom and dad are in charge of their children’s lives and our job is to empower them to educate their kids," said Governor Abbott.
Governor Abbott made West Texas his next stop around the state advocating for parental empowerment over their children’s education.
“Parents deserve access to the curriculum in that school," said Governor Abbott. "They deserve access to the books on the library shelves at school and they deserve access to the lessons planned of everything that is being taught to their child, and we will do that with my parental Bill of Rights that we will pass this session,"
Governor Abbott addressed common questions about this fight, saying that public schools will maintain the funding they receive and see improvement as well.
He also mentioned that rural schools will actually get additional funding and that there will be accountability with taxpayer money.
“When parents have choice about where their child is going to be educated," Governor Abbott. said. "The ultimate accountability is parental choice where they can take their child to the school that’s right for their child,"
Transparency, quality, respect and choice were highlighted as the four pillars of parental empowerment, and there is belief behind it’s popularity in the Lone Star State.
“If you are a Republican, a Democrat or an Independent, large majorities of each of those three categories strongly support school choice," said Governor Abbott. "If you’re black, white, Hispanic or Asian-American, large majorities support school choice. If you’re urban, suburban or rural Texan, large majorities of all of those support school choice. Now is the time for school choice in the State of Texas.”
Governor Abbott also mentioned that the goal is for Texas to be number one in the nation in education.
For those interested in the parental empowerment movement, visit txparentsmatter.com for more information.