Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wags his finger during a pro-school voucher rally at San Antonio Christian School on Monday. Credit: Michael Karlis

During a Monday night speech in San Antonio to rally support for school vouchers, Gov. Greg Abbott claimed without offering any supporting evidence that Texas public school teachers were forcing a child to become transgender against their will.

The Republican governor’s appearance at San Antonio Christian School was his latest in a series of “parent empowerment nights” rallies designed to build support for the voucher plan he’s spent the past two legislative sessions trying to get passed.

“A child was going to Bellaire High School … and teachers in that school were helping a child transition against their will and even withheld information from their own parents,” Abbott said, offering no further details to back up his assertion. That is wrong.”

It appears the governor may have been referring to an incident this week at a Houston-area school in which teachers allegedly referred to students by their preferred pronouns. However, there’s no mention in a Texas Tribune report of Bellaire High School teachers attempting to change a student’s gender.

The bizarre claim was part of Abbott’s half-hour at the far North Side private school campus. During the talk, the governor encouraged parents to call their state reps and demand they pass the voucher proposal known as Senate Bill 2.

Newly elected Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, along with Texas Reps. Brad Buckley, R-Salado; Mark Dorazio, R-San Antonio; Marc LaHood, R-San Antonio; and John Lujan, R-San Antonio, also attended the event.

“We have a challenge to make sure we’re going to be on a pathway to deliver the best education product in America,” Abbott said, wagging his finger during the speech. “A pathway where we empower parents in the state of Texas to choose the school that is best for their child. We will achieve that. We will succeed, and with God behind us, we will not fail.”

Outside, more than100 anti-voucher protesters, including former Democratic U.S. House candidates Laurel Swift and Kristen Hook, voiced concerns that the voucher plan would worsen the finances of public schools, which are already struggling with dwindling enrollment and a lack of state support.

Public school advocates protest against Gov. Greg Abbott’s school voucher plan outside of San Antonio Christian School on Monday. Credit: Michael Karlis

During his speech, Abbott also reiterated a story he’s told during at least one one other pro-voucher rally, alleging that a Texas public school educator quit her job because a history teacher was teaching students to disrespect the American flag.

“I visited with a principal who had formerly been at a public school, and she told me that she left that public school in part because the history teacher at that public school was teaching students at that school, in the history class, to disrespect the flag of the United States of America,” Abbott said.

During his Monday speech, the person who quit over concern for the flag was principal. However, when he related the tale during a pro-school voucher rally at San Antonio’s St. Mary’s Magdalene Catholic School in 2023, he said the person who quit was a teacher.

At Monday’s speech, Abbott also argued that regardless of what the “liberal media” writes, his school voucher program will not result in the defending of any of the state’s public schools.

“There is a category of funding that is going to be provided for public schools,” Abbott said. “There is a separate category of funding that is going to be provided for school choice. You don’t take from one and give to the other.”

During his address, Abbott didn’t touch on the concern voucher critics have made that the program would incentivize parents to pull their kids out of public school, thereby resulting in lower enrollment for public districts. Under Texas law, funding for public schools is largely determined by enrollment.

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This article appears in Feb 5-18, 2025.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...