Texas Education Shift: State House Approves Plan for Private School Funding
In a seismic shift for Texas education that could have ramifications for decades, the state House signed off on a plan early Thursday to allow parents to use state dollars to pay for their children’s private school education.
The historic vote, which followed a marathon day of deliberations, represents a major win for Gov. Greg Abbott who made “school choice” a top legislative priority, arguing families need financial help out of public schools that fail to meet their kids’ needs.
“This is an extraordinary victory for the thousands of parents who have advocated for more choices when it comes to the education of their children,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a news release.
What is School Choice?
School choice refers to the idea of giving parents the option to choose the type of education they want for their children, rather than being limited to the public schools in their area. This can include private schools, charter schools, and homeschooling.
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Reaction to the Plan
But while the state’s GOP majority celebrated the initial approval of education savings accounts, or ESAs, many public school families, teachers and Democratic lawmakers mourned the looming policy they fear will funnel money out of the campuses that serve the vast majority of Texas children.
“This is un-Texan, this is unpatriotic, and this is un-American,” said Rep. Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City. Passage in the House — where similar bills had long faced fatal resistance — gives the bill a path to the governor’s desk. The chamber voted 85-63, with all Democrats opposed.
Two Republicans — Reps. Dade Phelan and Gary VanDeaver, a former public schools superintendent — voted against the bill. The bill has a few more steps before it heads to Abbott’s desk.
“When it reaches my desk, I will swiftly sign this bill into law, creating the largest day-one school choice program in the nation and putting Texas on a pathway to becoming the best state in America for educating our kids,” Abbott said.
How the Plan Works
The ESA proposal would establish dedicated accounts fueled by public funds that families could tap into to pay for education expenses. An ESA could fund private school tuition, support homeschooling costs or be used for other education-related expenses.
Families in private schools would receive roughly $10,000 per year per child. Children with disabilities would receive $11,500. Homeschooled students could receive $2,000, and homeschooled students with disabilities would be eligible for $2,500.
Republican state budget writers want to spend $1 billion of the state’s nearly $24 billion surplus to fund the program. But a legislative advisory board projected that an ESA program’s annual cost could balloon to nearly $4 billion by 2030.
(Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer)
Concerns and Controversies
Democrats repeatedly referenced Arizona, which established such a system in 2011 with Empowerment Scholarship Accounts. It was expanded in 2022 to become a universal program.
Since then, critics have cited its ballooning ESA costs as a major factor in that state’s budget shortfall. Texas Democrats filed multiple amendments attempting to cap the program’s funding at $1 billion or place other guardrails to prevent ESAs from eating into public school funds. Each effort failed.
Also in other states, many families who ended up using ESA dollars were already enrolled in private schools, data shows. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a longtime proponent of school choice, has estimated that about 90,000 students could access the program in Texas.
(Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer)
Eligibility and Priority
Children with disabilities and those from low-income families would be prioritized if demand exceeds supply. Most families in the state would be eligible to apply for funds, a sticking point that Republicans insisted was necessary.
But Texas would prohibit undocumented students from qualifying under the proposal. Only U.S. citizens or people lawfully in the country could receive an ESA, a point of contention for some lawmakers.
Rep. Ramon Romero, D-Fort Worth, the chairman of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, asked whether the federal government is the one responsible for verifying an individual’s immigration status.
Rep. Brad Buckley, the Salado Republican who sponsored the bill, responded by saying that applicants would need to prove their citizenship status. Any child living in the country has a right to public education based on a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a case out of Texas known as Plyler vs. Doe
