For years, school voucher proposals routinely languished with little hope of advancing in the Legislature. That changed in 2022, when Abbott adopted education savings accounts, a form of school vouchers, as his top legislative priority, partly in response to some parents’ frustration over school closures during the pandemic and the perception among conservatives that public schools were a hotbed of liberal indoctrination.

With Abbott spearheading the push, 63 House Republicans voted for a voucher program last session — not enough to pass the proposal, but more progress than ever before and a baseline for Abbott to build on in last year’s primaries. The governor and several deep-pocketed voucher groups spent millions to replace more than a dozen anti-voucher Republicans with freshmen who support “school choice” — the umbrella term supporters use for measures that provide taxpayer funds to pay for some children’s private schooling.

After the November elections, Abbott declared there were 79 “hardcore school choice proponents” in the House — three more than needed to pass legislation.

While the Senate sprinted out of the gate and passed its voucher proposal, Senate Bill 2, in early February, it took more than two months for the bill to clear the House Public Education Committee and be sent to the floor for a vote of the full chamber. — Jasper Scherer

The House’s voucher plan would put $1 billion in taxpayer dollars toward education savings accounts that families could use for private school tuition and other school-related expenses, like textbooks, transportation and therapy. The bill would tie the voucher program’s per-student dollars to public education funding so the amount available to each participating student would increase when public schools receive more money and dip when public education funding declines.

Most participating families would receive an amount equal to 85% of what public schools get for each student through state and local funding — roughly somewhere between $10,300 and $10,900 per year for each child, according to a recent legislative budget analysis. Children with disabilities would be eligible for the same funding as other students, plus up to $30,000 in additional money, an amount based on what the state would regularly spend on special education services for that student if they attended a public school. Home-schoolers could receive up to $2,000 per year.

The proposal would limit the state from spending more than $1 billion on the program during the first two years of implementation. If public demand exceeds the funding available, the bill would give priority eligibility to students with disabilities and families it considers low income.

Unlike public schools, which are generally required by law to educate every child in their community who seeks admission, the bill would not require private schools to accept certain students who do not meet their admissions standards.

It would also limit funding for people without disabilities or from wealthier households — defined as a family of four making about $156,000 or greater — to only 20% of the program’s total budget until after the 2026-27 school year.

In addition, the proposal would prioritize students who exit public schools over those already enrolled in private schools for the first school year. Budget experts estimate that about 24,500 public school students, out of the state’s 5.5 million, would leave for private schools that year. — Jaden Edison

If the House approves its voucher bill, it would still have to reconcile some differences between its proposal and the Senate’s, like how much money students would receive, which applicants would take priority and how to accommodate students with disabilities.

[Different pace and priorities separate Texas Senate and House on school vouchers]

While the House wants to provide families an amount equal to 85% of what public schools get for each student through state and local funding, the Senate is proposing a base amount of $10,000 for each student.

If public demand for the House’s voucher program exceeds the funding available, it would prioritize applicants in this order:

• Students with disabilities from families with an annual income at or below 500% of the federal poverty level, which includes any four-person household earning less than roughly $156,000
• Families at or below 200% of the poverty level, which includes any four-person household earning less than roughly $62,400
• Families between 200% and 500% of the poverty level
• Families at or above 500% of the poverty level

Meanwhile, the Senate version would reserve 80% of spots in its voucher program for public school students with disabilities or those from households with an annual income up to 500% of the federal poverty level. That means the state would equally prioritize, for example, a family of four earning roughly $40,560 per year and a family of four with an income of about $156,000. The remaining 20% of spots could go to all other eligible applicants.

The Senate’s voucher plan would provide $11,500 for students with disabilities, diverging from the $30,000 cap in the House proposal. The House version also includes a provision that would allow a private school parent to request that their local public school evaluate a child with a disability to determine if they’re eligible to receive special education services.

Federal law already requires public schools to fund and conduct those evaluations for private school students under certain circumstances, but the House wants the evaluations completed within 45 days. — Jaden Edison

Ahead of Wednesday’s vote, House Democrats are threatening to kill all proposed constitutional amendments for the rest of the legislative session unless the lower chamber moves to put school vouchers up for a statewide vote on the November election ballot.

The move comes as Abbott is attempting to quash any changes to the voucher proposal, including the bill amendment that would have Texans weigh in on the proposed program.

Vouchers have historically failed when brought to voters in other states. Last year, voters in Kentucky and Nebraska — where President Donald Trump, a supporter of such measures, cruised to victory — said no to vouchers.

Texas lawmakers serving rural communities have faced intense public pressure this session to oppose the Legislature’s school voucher proposals. The Liberty County Republican Party, for example, adopted a resolution earlier this month opposing the legislation. The group also urged residents to contact Republican Rep. Janis Holt of Silsbee — their Texas House representative — “to express their opposition to this dangerous expansion of government power.”

Meanwhile, Reps. Brad Buckley, the Salado Republican who chairs the House education committee, and Cody Harris, a Palestine Republican, in February exited the stage of a voucher town hall meeting earlier than expected following booing and jeering from a crowd of public school supporters.

Recent changes in the House legislation have also signaled a desire by top Republicans to appease lawmakers feeling pressure from their communities or who are on the fence about whether to vote for the voucher bill.

The House’s $1 billion cap for the first two years of a potential voucher program came after critics raised concerns that lawmakers are downplaying the amount of money the state could spend on vouchers during the initial rollout. The 20% funding cap for wealthier families during the 2026-27 school year followed persistent messaging from Democrats about how large-scale voucher programs in other states have primarily benefited higher-income families whose children were already attending private school. Lawmakers also recently approved a change to the bill that would allow only U.S. citizens or people lawfully in the country to receive vouchers. Immigration remains a top priority for conservative Republicans in Texas and nationally.

The House Public Education Committee made each of those changes during a meeting that the panel decided not to publicly livestream. Several TV news stations did so instead.

Hundreds of Texans showed up at the Capitol weeks before that to testify on the voucher legislation, with the public hearing going almost 24 hours. Most speakers said they opposed the program. — Jaden Edison

The lower chamber on Wednesday is also expected to take up House Bill 2, a sweeping $8 billion school funding bill that would raise the base amount of money public schools receive for each student; increase teacher salaries through Texas’ pay-for-performance program; limit the number of teachers without formal training; and base the money school districts receive for special education on the individual needs of students with disabilities.

[Texas officials’ claim that school funding is at an all-time high ignores inflation and temporary federal money]

Both the school voucher legislation and HB 2 have advanced through the Legislature side-by-side this session, a strategic move by Republican leadership looking to show that the state can both increase funding for public education and offer an alternative that would allow some families to put public dollars toward their children’s private education. Schools missed out on nearly $8 billion last legislative session, which Abbott held hostage when vouchers failed to gain the support needed to pass.

Voucher opponents have long criticized the state for pushing for education savings accounts while public schools struggle with challenges like a nearly $2 billion special education funding gap and campus closures.

The bill would notably increase schools’ base funding by $395 — from $6,160 to $6,555. That amount, known as the basic allotment, would automatically go up every two years by tying it to property value growth. Forty-percent of the allotment would go to salaries for school staff. Higher salary increases would go to teachers with more than a decade of classroom experience.

School districts say raising the basic allotment, which has not increased since 2019, would offer them flexibility to address the unique needs of their campuses, as opposed to funds they can only use for specific purposes. The bulk of it currently flows toward salaries for educators and support staff. Districts also use the money to pay for essential services and goods, like electricity, insurance and water. Leftover money may fund other necessities like school supplies and building maintenance. — Jaden Edison

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