By Garry Jones, Texas Executive Director
Jones is Texas Director and co-founder for the Center for Strong Public Schools Action Fund and Center for Strong Public Schools.
Blue Wave Then What? A Progressive Case for a Student-Centered Education Agenda
Across the country, voters are reacting to the second Trump era by electing Democrats at every level of government – state to federal to local. In Miami, voters just elected their first Democratic mayor in 30 years. Virginia voters flipped 13 House of Delegates seats and every statewide office. The energy is unmistakable, and with 2026 approaching, Texas could be next.
Here at home, Capitol Inside recently wrote that the “Texas House Majority may be back in play” after national midterm trends. History backs that up: in 2018, during a similar “blue wave,” Democrats gained 12 Texas House seats. Today, Democrats are just 14 seats from the majority.
So what would a progressive shift in the Texas House mean, especially as it relates to public education?
A New Moment for Public Education
At the Center for Strong Public Schools Action Fund, and in coalition with our think tank partner, Center for Strong Public Schools, we work with center-left and progressive leaders to strengthen public education. We believe deeply in public education’s transformative power to be the great equalizer in our society. We see the incredible potential in our public schools and refuse to accept that any child’s future should be limited by their circumstances.
The last several years in Texas have been dominated by a polarized debate around vouchers and privatization. But the truth is far more nuanced – the choice between supporting public education and expanding choices is not mutually exclusive.
Texans Want Options. Parents want choices. That part is clear. But the kind of choice they want is frequently misunderstood – and a lane where progressive lawmakers must meet the demands of voters, while also protecting the power of public education.
Polling over the last few years shows that:
- 78% of Black voters and 71% of Latino voters want options beyond just their neighborhood-zoned public school.
- Nearly 80% of Texans prefer expanding public school options—magnet programs, career academies, and high-performing public charter schools—over a private school voucher system.
In core Democratic counties, the preference for public choice over private school choice is overwhelming:
- Dallas County: 78% to 15%
- Bexar County: 72% to 17%
- Harris County: 65% to 24%
- El Paso County: 62% to 19%
Progressives don’t have to choose between defending public education and supporting expanded educational opportunity—voters want both. A new House majority could finally move that conversation beyond stale, divisive privatization fights and toward investing in and expanding the public options Texan voters across the spectrum overwhelmingly support.
A Chance to Reset the Accountability Debate
A more progressive House could also reshape Texas’ approach to school accountability. Last session, legislators replaced the single high-stakes STAAR test with three shorter assessments designed to track learning in real time and reduce pressure on students. It was a step forward, but debates about accountability are far from over—especially as national politics and the dismantling of the Department of Education threaten long-standing bipartisan support for assessment and accountability shaped by civil rights advocates and bipartisan leaders like President Bush and Obama.
Texas voters support accountability when it is fair and meaningful. By a 40-point margin, Texans back “grading the performance of schools with a system that includes a state test” to help parents understand how schools are doing.
Progressive leaders have an opportunity – and a responsibility – to champion an accountability system that is more than about testing, but that is: equitable, student-focused, transparent, and grounded in outcomes that matter for kids, families, and communities.
Research is clear: strong accountability systems disproportionately benefit Black, Latino, and low-income students—the very groups most often left behind when standards are weakened or eliminated. These are also the very groups center-left and progressive candidates must win in order to achieve victory at the ballot box.
A Progressive Texas Legislature Could Recenter The Debate Back to Students
If the Texas House shifts, the question isn’t whether Progressives can reshape public education policy—it’s how they will use their 2026 election mandates.
To respond to the needs of students, families, and voters, they can: expand and invest in high-quality public school options, protect and modernize equitable accountability systems, use effective data to ensure the schools serving the greatest needs receive the greatest support, and reorient the debate away from ideological battles and toward what Texas families actually want.
A progressive majority could not just change the conversation in Austin. It could help Texas build a public education system worthy of every child’s potential and worthy of Texas’ future. It’ll be up to progressive leaders to meet the ever changing demands of Texas voters.
The Center for Strong Public Schools Action Fund is a powerful center-left voice for education transformation, committed to strengthening public education.