WACO, Texas (KWTX) – As the beginning of the 89th Legislative Session approaches on January 14, Texas politicians in Austin are getting ready to vote on important issues, and school choice has taken the main stage.
Often referred to as a voucher program, school choice is focused on the education savings account, which is like an assigned bank account that each family gets from the state to pay for private education.
The practice is controversial since it uses taxpayer funds to pay for private education. Proponents argue it not only provides financial help to parents, but also gives them more of a say on where their children can attend school.
The education savings account is not exactly a voucher, since the money parents are given can’t be spent just anywhere.
That money specifically goes towards paying for private school tuition and other tools that are approved by the state.
It was a pressing issue during the last legislative session, as many Republican lawmakers and conservative groups in the Capitol were pushing for the bill to pass, but they didn’t exactly succeed.
The biggest controversy about the bill is where the money to fund these bank accounts is coming from.
Multiple public school districts in Central Texas KWTX has spoken with have said that they are worried how the establishment of ESA’s will impact the amount of funding that public schools receive.
Different private schools told KWTX in the past say that this could be a chance for students that are stuck in lower-funded areas to have a shot at a properly funded education.
Texas Greg Abbott is pushing even harder this year to get school choice passed.
Last year, two bills made their way to the Texas house floor, but ESA’s were voted out of H.B. 1 when it was time to vote.
In the last special session of the year, 21 republican Texas House representatives joined all House Democrats to remove the language and legislation of ESA’s from the bill.
Representative John Raney, who proposed the amendment to remove ESAs, told KWTX that the state does not have enough money to fund all children’s education if they want to transfer from public to private schools.
Despite the dramatic move, Abbott maintained throughout the year that he will not sign the bill without the education savings account and even threatened to keep calling special sessions until it is passed. He already called three special sessions during the last legislative session but failed to get ESAs passed.
The Texas House and Senate only meet in odd number years, so Governor Abbott has taken the time to make sure school choice has full support when the next legislative session begins.
In this year’s election, Abbott endorsed 15 Texas House challengers who publicly said they would support him if they were elected, aiming to have more support for school choice in the coming session.
Out the 15 challengers that were supported by Abbott, 11 succeeded in replacing the previous republican representative out who voted against school choice.
In Central Texas, House Representative for District 55 Hugh Shine voted against school choice and lost the race for a seat that he has kept since 2016 to Hillary Hickland, who was endorsed by Abbott and has maintained that she will vote for school choice if she was elected.
Governor Abbott has maintained that heading into this next session, there are enough representatives in the Texas House to vote for school choice, so that it can get approved by the house and then Abbott before finally becoming a bill.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: School leaders provide testimony over House Bill 1 during Texas House hearing
Copyright 2025 KWTX. All rights reserved.