State Sen. Wendy Davis, the Fort Worth Democrat running for Texas governor, talked education in Austin today. She offered few specifics on what she would do, but instead tried to highlight differences between her and her opponent.
Sen. Davis says she and Attorney General Greg Abbott couldn’t be any more different on how they view education in Texas.
"The simple truth about Greg Abbott is that he isn’t working for our schools; he’s working against them," Davis said.
Davis criticized Abbott for defending the state in a lawsuit by nearly two-thirds of school districts. They sued after the Texas Legislature cut roughly $5 billion in spending for public schools in 2011, cuts that she filibustered that year.
She wants to expand education funding, though how is not yet known.
"I will not stop until I make sure that our state provides full-day, quality pre-K for every eligible 4 year old in this state," Davis said.
Davis says she also supports expanding technical training throughout Texas, boosting financial aid, making college costs more transparent and adding more Tier One schools.
Today, Abbott’s campaign released a statement that said Davis uses "fuzzy math" from her education proposals to her latest tax return. The statement criticized her for being late in releasing her taxes, but at the event, Davis told reporters many Texans ask for extensions and said she paid a fee to the IRS.
Meanwhile, a Travis County judge is expected to rule as soon as Thursday on whether the way Texas pays for public education is constitutional.
