WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz visited the White House in December for a public discussion about school choice, and he pitched President Donald Trump face to face on legislation he has pushed for more than a year now with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

“If and when we pass this, this will be the most significant federal civil rights victory of modern times,” Cruz said of the Education Freedom Scholarships the bill would create, providing billions of dollars in tax breaks for individuals and companies that donate to private school scholarship funds or help parents home-school their children.

“This is all about millions of kids — millions of inner-city kids, millions of African-American kids, millions of Hispanic kids, trapped right now, desperate for hope — and giving them scholarships,” the Texas Republican told Trump, who nodded in agreement. “There is nothing on the domestic front that I believe will have a longer lasting legacy in your presidency than if and when we get this done together.”

It appears Trump heard him loud and clear.

More Information State of the Union Address President Donald Trump will address the nation at 8 p.m. CST on Tuesday. The speech will be broadcast live on every major TV network: CBS, ABC, Fox, NBC and CNN.

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The president is expected to give the proposal a prime-time shoutout during his State of the Union address Tuesday, as he seeks his second term. Trump is expected to touch on the core planks of his re-election campaign — the economy, immigration and health care among them — with an emphasis on what he has done and wants to do for working families. School choice will be a central piece of that message, as the president plans to urge Congress to expand options for parents and students, administration officials say.

But how that message might be received in Texas is another matter. Despite the GOP majority in Austin, Texas lawmakers spent years battling over various voucher proposals with so little success that advocates gave up in 2019.

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Proposals such as Cruz’s have long been unpopular in rural areas, where public schools are often the largest employers and community centers. Rural Republicans have joined Democrats in opposing school choice expansions in Texas.

But Trump is wildly popular among rural Republicans, and his support could “provide cover, particularly for rural Republicans in the next legislative session,” said Matt Mackowiak, a Republican consultant and school choice advocate.

“We are nowhere near as far along in the reforms as Florida or Tennessee or other states. That’s a disappointment and a frustration I think for a lot of conservatives,” he said. “They have rural Republicans in Tennessee, and they have rural Republicans in Florida. I don’t see why those members have been able to see the light on this and Texas Republicans haven’t.”

Opponent: ‘Parents don’t want a dollar-off coupon’

So far, 18 states have adopted voucher programs akin to the one Cruz wants to pass on a national level.

The last major fight in Texas, in 2017, centered on legislation similar to what Cruz is now advocating in Washington. At that time, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who also attended the December White House meeting, was pushing to give tax breaks to businesses donating money the state could use to send students to private schools, for home schooling or for tutoring. But the proposal went nowhere, with more than two-thirds of the Texas House opposed to spending any state money on voucher programs.

Those opposed argued that such a program would siphon resources from public schools and provide an inadequate amount of money to cover full tuition at private schools. Others who opposed vouchers lived in rural areas where private schools are rare.

Although Republicans are more likely to support vouchers, a majority of Texans said they opposed them in 2017, according to polling from the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune. In the 2018 election, Texans voted several voucher advocates out of office.

“I think most legislators in Texas have gotten the message that parents don’t want a dollar-off coupon to a private school across town. They want their neighborhood schools to be the best they can be, and that means giving resources to schools so they can be the best they can be,” said Mark Wiggins, a lobbyist for the Association of Texas Professional Educators.

For subscribers: Texas GOP lawmaker who fought school vouchers says voters proved his point

Cruz’s proposal would receive heavy opposition in the Democrat-controlled House, but it has the backing of 10 Texas Republicans in Congress, including Houston-area Reps. Dan Crenshaw, Pete Olson, Randy Weber and Brian Babin. Also signed on are Reps. Roger Williams, Michael Cloud, Kenny Marchant, Bill Flores, Ron Wright and Michael Burgess.

The legislation would offer up to $5 billion in federal tax credits for those who donate to state-approved scholarship programs for private and religious schools or home schooling. States could opt in and would be tasked with deciding which schools receive the funding. It would also provide up to $5 billion in tax credits for those who donate to workforce training programs.

Cruz has acknowledged the uphill battle the legislation faces. Speaking at an education-focused event last year in Washington, he talked about the need to “broaden the coalition.”

“We’re going to have to start picking off Democrats,” he said at the time. “Particularly in the Pelosi House, but we’re not going to overcome a filibuster in the Senate.”

So far that hasn’t happened. No Democrats are signed onto the legislation in the House or the Senate.

For subscribers: Texas Rep. Veronica Escobar will give Democrats’ response to Trump State of the Union

Cruz, meanwhile, has partnered with one of the Trump administration’s controversial figures in pushing the legislation. DeVos, a Michigan billionaire and longtime advocate for school choice who has led the Education Department through Trump’s first term, is a rare case of a federal education chief who has developed a large enough profile to work her way into presidential campaigns.

Cruz told Trump in December that “DeVos is doing an amazing job. She is a courageous and principled education secretary.”

Cruz has had some success advancing school choice at the federal level. He worked an amendment into the GOP’s 2017 tax overhaul that opened up 529 savings plans long used to save for college to allow for private school and home-schooling expenses, as well.

Cruz touted it during the White House meeting in December.

“You’ve already signed into law the most significant federal school choice legislation that’s ever passed in the history of our country,” he told Trump. The Education Freedom Scholarships, he said, are the “next step.”

ben.wermund@chron.com