AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas Senate committee on Tuesday met to discuss the latest proposal to use taxpayer dollars to fund private school vouchers for Texas parents.
This isn’t the first time Texas has tried to pass a voucher program. During the 2023 legislative session, lawmakers went through four special sessions to get a voucher bill passed. Gov. Greg Abbott considered the matter a major priority, but a handful of House Republican holdouts kept the bill off the governor’s desk.
Things will be different this time. After the previous sessions, the governor worked hard to unseat all the Republicans who voted against him on vouchers.
Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Galveston, laid out his education savings account bill Tuesday. The senate allocated $1 billion in taxes to fund ESAs, which would be spent on private school tuition and other education expenses not related to public school.
“Allowing nearly 100,000 students to receive an education savings account that would be larger than any other state school choice program in the first year of operation,” said Creighton.
Similar proposals failed in previous sessions due to a variety of concerns about the operation of the program, but in large part because of how the legislation would affect public school funding that is allocated per pupil.
“My concern is that we’re setting aside a billion dollars for this new educations savings voucher, but I haven’t seen the same level of investment in schools and it concerns me that we’re creating a tool to play in terms of our public,” Sen. José Menéndez, D-San Antonio, said.
“There is a tremendous body of academic evidence that shows public schools do better when they’re exposed to competition induced by private school choice,” Nathan Cunneen with the American Federation for Children said.
This proposal allows for universal eligibility, meaning any family can apply. The bill prioritizes low-income and disabled students if demand exceeds the available funding. Qualifying families would receive $10,000 per child and $11,500 for disabled children, which is more than offered in other ESA states and can be utilized effectively by low-income families, according to supporters.
“You can get your kid into an even better school. So, it’s makes things a whole lot easier for a lot of people,” Russel Withers with the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute said.
The committee heard testimony from two panels of invited supporters of education savings accounts.
“You’ve told us about the positive. Have you heard any criticisms about these programs?” Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, asked.
“The friction between the fastness of how a parent gets paid or how quickly you can approve a vendor — some of that friction takes a little too long. I think Texas’ bill does a great job of ameliorating that problem,” Robert Enlow with EdChoice said.
The committee also heard public testimony from nearly 100 educators and parents who stated staunch opposition to the proposal.
“I believe that it is premature to adopt the policy as written, given the lack of robust data on the academic impacts of education savings acts around the nation,” Tawanna Hudson with the Texas Educational Policy Institute said.
Still, there is an expectation the bill will be approved by the committee and pass through the Senate chamber.
“The fact is, it’s going to pass. The question is, is how do you make it a better bill?” West said.
In the past, similar school choice bills passed the Senate but failed in the House. After last November’s election, Abbott seems confident a bill will pass both chambers this session.
