The presence of George P. Bush — the son of possible 2016 presidential candidate Jeb Bush — added some star power to a rally on Friday in Austin, Texas, advocating school vouchers and charter schools.

A few hundred teachers, students, and activists gathered on the steps of the Capitol for an initiative that has been an important platform for Texas conservatives that has stalled in the legislature, despite being controlled by Republicans, according to an Associated Press report.

Bush is a former public shcool teacher in Florida and also served on the board of one of the largest charter school operators in the state of Texas. He has firm connections to both states: his father governed Florida, and his uncle and later president, George W. Bush, governed Texas.

Bush’s office also oversees Texas’ Permanent School Fund, which helps with classroom costs and is the largest education endowment in the nation, surpassing a Harvard University fund.

Bush said he was using his platform to “encourage more education reform” statewide, according to the report, and that school choice was of the utmost importance.

The rally was filled with people wearing “National School Choice Week” scarfs and was one of many such gatherings across the country.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick compared school choice to the civil rights movements, arguing that low-income parents need to have the option to remove their children from a school they are underpeforming in and get state money to move them into a private alternative.

Lawmakers successfully overhauled the public education system in the last legislative session, which included a large expansion of charter schools. In all, there are about 600 charter schools statewide that service 200,000 students, with 100,000 more on waitlists, according to supporters.