AUSTIN, Texas — With students heading back to school across Texas, public education is emerging as a central issue in the race for governor. Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa are both pitching competing plans for the state’s classrooms.

Abbott is making stops around Texas this week to promote his education agenda, touting a record of boosting teacher pay and wanting to improve student performance statewide.

“We can all agree that we can and need to improve in reading and math,” Abbott said at a roundtable event Monday.

Abbott also raised concerns about foreign involvement in public schools on Tuesday.

“Bottom line is this: foreign influence of any kind has no place in our classrooms,” he said, calling for the legislature to ban foreign governments from using gifts or financial agreements to influence Texas K-12 public schools.

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The renewed focus on the classroom comes as June polling from the Texas Politics Project found just one in three Texans approve of Abbott’s handling of public education.

Hinojosa has made education a campaign priority and is calling for several statewide changes, including new leadership at the Texas Education Agency, ending school district takeovers and increasing teacher pay.

“It is never the right answer to struggling schools to take power away from parents and community. That can never be the answer,” Hinojosa said during an event in June.

Abbott, meanwhile, is emphasizing student outcomes and has outlined a goal of getting Texas students to No. 1 in math and reading.

Southern Methodist University political science professor Cal Jillson said the issue could help Hinojosa, a former Austin ISD board president, break through with some voters.

“The question is whether Hinojosa can make herself heard, and that’s where public education could be important, because it’s not an issue that you’ve got to introduce. All you’ve got to say is the public schools have been underfunded, underperforming, and that’s where your kids go to school,” Jillson said.

On Tuesday, CBS Austin asked Abbott to respond to Hinojosa’s platform, including her calls to end school district takeovers, raise teacher pay, and replace Education Commissioner Mike Morath.

“So let’s be clear about something, and that is no governor in Texas history has increased teacher pay as much as I have. I’m the only governor who’s put Texas teachers on a pathway to earning more than $100,000 a year. I’m attracting teachers to the profession and keeping them in the profession, and the very best,” Abbott said, referring to the Teacher Incentive Allotment established in 2019.

Public education is expected to remain a key topic in the campaign leading up to November.