AUSTIN (Nexstar) — In a split-screen legislative affair expected to last late into Thursday night, Texas lawmakers are set to vote on a pair of proposals that may spell out the future of Gov. Greg Abbott’s ambitious plans for education.
In the Senate, Abbott’s “Parental Bill of Rights” is set to pass. That’s what top Republicans are dubbing Senate Bill 8, a novel bill for Texas’ public education system that would create “education savings accounts” (ESAs).
Through those accounts, the state would spend half a billion dollars over the next two years to subsidize some families’ educational costs. Parents who wish to transfer their children from public school to private school would be eligible to receive $8,000 from the state to do so.
Abbott has traveled around the state advocating for the “school choice” initiative, expending significant personal capital and betting the session on the issue.
That bill passed out of the Senate Education Committee on a partisan 10-2 vote. It will pass on the Senate floor.
Critics argue the plan would harm public education and not go far enough to enable lower-income families to send their children to private schools. The House is home to far more of those critics.
The lower chamber is set to level a more serious challenge to the governor’s plan. Of the almost 400 amendments filed for consideration on the state’s budget, one has drawn attention as a possible foil to the ESA push.
Robstown Democrat Abel Herrero filed an amendment to the budget that would prohibit state money from funding “a school voucher, including an education savings account, tax credit scholarship program, or a grant or other similar program through which a child may use state money for non-public primary or secondary education.”
Last session, the House passed a similar amendment of his 115-29.
This coverage is ongoing and will be updated as news breaks throughout the day.
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