As Tarrant County lawmakers prepare to open the Texas Legislature on January 14th, Fort Worth Report reporters examine policies set to take shape in Austin. Click here for more information on the law.
Knox Stone loves making art.
His heart clears up. he can concentrate.
Brandi Stone, the 13-year-old’s mother, said school helped him find his passion. More than that, the school mentored Knox, who has autism, and opened new opportunities for him.
Stone is sending her son and 6-year-old daughter to a private school in Fort Worth, a decision she said best suits her children and the values she wants to instill.
Stone believes more families could follow in her footsteps if the Texas Legislature expands private school options through programs like vouchers, which provide public funding for education costs such as tuition and home study. I hope that it will be possible. In the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers are expected to fight not only over public education funding, but also over the issuance of vouchers.
Stone, a single mother who works as a server at a Fort Worth restaurant, doesn’t see the fight over gift certificates as politics. She believes this is about families, especially those with low-income and special needs students.
“I think it just gives all kids equal opportunity,” she said.
The battle over education savings accounts, a voucher-like initiative, has been heating up starting in 2023. Gov. Greg Abbott has vowed to sign universal legislation expanding private school options. But attempts by lawmakers to pass such legislation have repeatedly failed in the House over several special sessions.
Education savings accounts are different from traditional voucher programs. Funds are passed directly to parents. In traditional voucher programs, schools receive funding.
In 2023, Abbott tied the fate of the voucher proposal to increased public education funding. The day after the Nov. 5 election, Mr. Abbott reiterated his commitment to increasing funding for K-12 public schools as long as lawmakers pass voucher legislation.
What is school choice?
Texas already has school choice. Parents can decide whether to send their children to traditional public schools, charter schools, private schools, or homeschools.
Some school districts also have their own multiple-choice formats. Some, like Fort Worth ISD, allow parents to send their children to specialized schools, like Young Women’s Leadership Academy, rather than traditional neighborhood schools.
Many school districts also have open enrollment programs that allow parents to send their children to schools outside the district.
The current debate revolves around whether states should allow parents to use tax dollars to fund their children’s private school tuition.
“We’re not forced to choose between the two. The reality is we can have both,” Abbott said during a rally at Nolan Catholic High School in 2023. .
Mr. Abbott said he secured the votes needed to pass the voucher bill in the House by endorsing primary challengers to Republican incumbents. Republicans will hold 88 House seats this Congress.
The next House speaker will likely play a key role in determining whether the education savings account bill makes it to the governor’s desk. Currently, Republicans David Cook of Mansfield and Dustin Burrows of Lubbock are the frontrunners for the job. For a member to become speaker, they need the support of 76 members, a simple majority of the 150-member House.
Both Cook and Burrows support expanding private school options.
Congress will convene for a 140-day session at noon on January 14, when House members will decide who will wield the gavel in the House.
Opponents argue that education savings accounts are the latest version of school vouchers and would reduce state spending on education, including traditional public schools and charter schools.
Fort Worth school districts are already preparing for what seems inevitable: the passage of voucher legislation.
In the high-growth Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD, demographer Bob Templeton told the board on Dec. 16 that it was adjusting enrollment and population growth models to account for the potential impact of the voucher law. He said he is working on something.
“We probably won’t actually know the outcome of the voucher session until May,” Templeton told trustees. “I think we’ll get a glimpse of it at the end of January, but it’s going to be a battle. And it’s going to take months before we really understand what the impact will be.”
Some school districts have taken opposition to education savings accounts off their legislative priorities.
Fort Worth ISD instead focused on what officials saw as realistic goals to help students. The district’s legislative priorities include increasing per-student state aid, adjusting the amount districts receive for different student groups, establishing a school safety fund, and a teacher compensation and retention fund. This includes an increase in the amount of
The Crowley ISD School Board adopted a legislative priority Dec. 12 calling on lawmakers to increase funding and oppose vouchers.
“If we’re going to provide funding, we need to hold schools to the same accountability standards as public schools,” Crowley ISD School Board Director Nedra Robinson said.
How can I expand my options?
States across the country have three general policies in place to give parents taxpayer dollars to pay for their children’s private school tuition.
Vouchers are one of the most talked about ways to expand private school options. These are state-funded scholarships paid to students attending private schools. Nationwide, 14 states have voucher programs. The scholarship tax credit allows individuals and businesses to use a portion of their tax dollars to donate to private school scholarship organizations. So far, 17 states have implemented the program. Education savings accounts are state grants that are deposited into a special account that parents can use to pay for private school tuition, tutoring, textbooks, and other education-related expenses. Five states have education savings account programs.
Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has said his top policy priority is passing an education savings account bill in 2025. That initiative would be Senate Bill 2, which would demonstrate the importance of this bill.
Mr. Patrick, who controls the bill’s flow in the Senate, also expects Mr. Abbott to declare expanding private school options an urgent matter for Congress. The proclamation can only be issued by the governor and allows lawmakers to immediately take action on voucher legislation. Typically, lawmakers cannot take action on a bill before the 60th day of the legislative session, which is mid-March.
“Many schools in Texas strive to be great, and they are great, and most schools are excellent. Unfortunately, despite the efforts, some schools, some students They struggle to meet their unique educational needs, and parents should be empowered to place their children in the best learning environment, whether it’s in public or private schools,” Patrick said on November 8. said in a statement.
Supporters say education savings accounts could level the playing field for low-income families and help students find the best education.
In the final 2023 proposal, the House would provide $10,500 annually to each student participating in the state’s education savings account program. The Senate proposed giving each student $8,000.
For Stone, a single parent in Fort Worth, either offer would have covered her son’s private school tuition.
Knox attends Wedgwood Academy, a small private school in west Fort Worth where tuition is $7,600. Stone currently uses scholarships to cover her tuition.
Knox has been attending the private school for almost three years. Before transferring, he attended South High Mount Elementary School in Fort Worth ISD.
“Knox had a great teacher at South High Mount, and I wish he could have been cloned and experienced the whole process of him going to school,” Stone said.
Time played a big role in Stone’s decision to move Knox to a private school.
He was about to leave his teacher. Her son is also emerging from distance learning necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and Stone hopes to reintroduce him to in-person instruction in a smaller, more welcoming class setting. she said. And he had just gotten the opportunity to join Wedgwood Academy’s leadership program.
“It seemed like the best fit for us,” Stone said.
The Fort Worth Report’s coverage of the Texas Legislature is supported by Kelly Hart. At The Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independent of board members and financial supporters. Learn more about our editorial independence policy.
Jacob Sanchez is a senior education reporter at The Fort Worth Report. Contact us at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez.
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