
It takes a special kind of politician to rail against school choice while sending his own kids to private school, but Texas Democrat Gene Wu has managed to pull it off with zero self-awareness and a whole lot of hypocrisy.
During a Monday rally against a proposed school choice bill, Wu put on a performance for the crowd, mocking the idea of giving parents the right to decide where their tax dollars go.
“How do we tell people we’re going to take your money and give it to rich people, so they can send their kids to private school, so they don’t have to have their kids with your kids?”
BREAKING: Chair of the Texas House Democrats just said parents send their kids to private school “so they don’t have to have their kids with your kids.”
He sends his kids to private school. pic.twitter.com/x8R2vOtWqV
— Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) February 3, 2025
Yes, really. A man who chose private school for his own children is out here claiming that school choice is about segregation—as if only the wealthy should have access to private education while everyone else is forced into whatever public school the government assigns them.
And here’s where it gets better: Wu himself attended private school and even admitted in a 2022 social media post that he’d love to get $12,000 in state money for his kids’ private education—except he doesn’t think that would be fair.
So, just so we’re clear:
- Wu’s family paid for him to go to private school.
- Wu now pays for his kids to go to private school.
- But if a working-class family wants that same opportunity? Sorry, it’s a “scam” that benefits “billionaire mega-donors.”
The Texas Education Freedom Act—filed last month by Senator Brandon Creighton (R-TX)—would provide every student in Texas with school choice, giving parents $2,000 a year for education savings and $10,000 per year if they choose private school. For students with disabilities, that number jumps to $11,500 per year.
This is actually the problem.
When we’ve discussed VOUCHERS in the past, the compromise offered was that the SUBSIDY should be limited to low income families… and EXCLUDE families like mine that can already afford it.
Soundly rejected. Non-starter.
🤔🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/3UfHs1Mxxd
— Gene Wu (@GeneforTexas) May 12, 2022
Creighton summed up the stakes of the fight perfectly:
“It’s time for Texas to join the 32 other states that already empower parents and students with greater educational freedom.”
And that’s exactly what has Wu and his fellow Democrats panicking—because if Texas follows the nationwide trend of expanding school choice, the old public school monopoly crumbles overnight.
Wu’s go-to attack on school vouchers is the same tired lie Democrats have been pushing for decades: that it somehow “defunds public schools.” But that’s not how it works.
Greg Abbott is putting his billionaire mega-donors over Texas students.
Every dollar spent on his billionaire voucher scam is a dollar taken from our classrooms.
The governor should fully fund our neighborhood schools — not defund them w/ a private school voucher scam.#txlege pic.twitter.com/KtJe7eaKRI
— Gene Wu (@GeneforTexas) February 3, 2025
The truth is public schools are already getting massive amounts of funding, whether they succeed or completely fail the students they are supposed to serve. Giving parents the freedom to choose a better alternative isn’t “defunding” anything—it’s forcing public schools to compete for students.
And Democrats can’t have that. Because when families start leaving underperforming schools, it’s teachers’ unions, bloated administrators, and the political class that lose power—not students.