Texas public schools

This brings the West Texas outbreak to 663 cases since its inception in late January.

Senate Bill 2 would create an education savings account program and has been Abbott's top priority.

This brings the West Texas outbreak to more than 600 cases since the outbreak began in late January.

The Texas Education Agency won a year-and-a-half long civil case that argued ratings wouldn't fairly represent districts' performance.

The Texas outbreak is nearing 600 cases since January.

After hours of debate — and years of pushing from Gov. Greg Abbott — the Texas House gave initial approval to a bill to create an Education Savings Account plan. The school voucher program would allow parents to use public funds towards private school costs.

Fifty-eight patients have been hospitalized since the outbreak began in late January.

The measles outbreak in West Texas didn't happen just by chance. Health officials say the easily preventable disease has ripped through communities sprawling across more than 20 Texas counties in part because health departments were starved of the funding needed to run vaccine programs.

With cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Texas and other states will have to spend more on public health. The biggest expense of a measles outbreak is the public health response in shutting down the outbreak.

Some Texas legislators may be done questioning the merits of education savings accounts as it moves to a vote in the State House, but voters aren't. Model programs in other states are showing rural voters could stand to lose the most, and they're preparing to do the math on election day.