At the hearings on March 11-12, hundreds of Texans testified about Texas House’s plans to give families public money to pay for private education. The state’s budget writer plans $1 billion, a top priority for Gov. Greg Abbott and other Texas Republican leaders.
overview
House Bill 3 creates a state-run education savings account. This can be used by families to pay for private school tuition fees and other educational expenses such as textbooks and transportation. According to the bill, most participating students will receive approximately $10,000 a year, or 85% of public school public schools from state and local sources.
Data from Texas Educational Institutions shows that between 2022 and 23, the average Texas public schools received $12,815 per person in state and local funding.
Students with disabilities will receive up to $30,000 under HB 3. Special education services are usually more expensive to provide, Bill author Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Salado, told members of the House Public Education Committee on March 11.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the bill prioritizes applications from students with special needs and families with annual incomes of less than 200% of the federal poverty line. However, Texas families are eligible to apply for the program regardless of their income.
“My intention is to provide families with the opportunity to select the best educational environment for their children,” Buckley said at the March 11 hearing. “I think HB 3 offers this choice while prioritizing Texas’ most needy and vulnerable students.”
The hearing, which began at 8am on March 11th, lasted more than 20 hours. The committee took a short break for the house floor session, then worked overnight, postponing it at about 6:30am on March 12th.
Discussion
During the hearing, supporters of the Education Savings Account argued that the program offered options for families who want to send their children to private schools but can’t afford them. Opponents have said the ESA will divert funds from public schools, some of which are facing an increase in budget shortages.
“We can do both,” R-Plano MP Jeff Leach said on March 11.
Rep. James Tarico, an Austin Democrat who opposes education savings accounts, said he was concerned that the program would not meet the needs of all Texas students.
“The majority of Texas counties don’t have a single private school…or private schools don’t offer transportation or special education programs, or vouchers don’t cover the full cost of tuition,” Tarico said on March 11.
According to the Texas Private Schools Association, between 2023 and 24, the average cost of tuition for Texas private schools was $10,965 for kindergarten and $14,986 for high school students.
Talarico said House members should consider capping registrations for ESA programs based on income.
“Do you think our taxpayer dollars should go to families who are already earning their children and sending their children to private schools? That’s the question,” Tarico said in a discussion with Buckley. “We weren’t low-income families. We were able to have that conversation. Even working-class, middle-class families could have that conversation. But your bill would allow billionaires to take the money they could go to public schools to subsidize tuition fees for private schools.”
Buckley said all parents should be able to decide where their kids go to school, regardless of how much money they make.
“I know private schools in my area, I know the kids who go there,” Buckley said. “Many families struggle with vacation, college savings, savings for retirement, savings for retirement, ensuring that their children are in the best environment.”
Zoom in
South Texas resident Angelina Tames testified about midnight on March 12 that the educational savings account would be a “game changer for Hispanic families.”
Tames said her mother wanted to send her to a local private school, but she couldn’t afford to.
“Our parents make many sacrifices to give us American dreams, but often the public school system can’t meet us. …In communities with high poverty and low test scores, school choices allow for a future in which American dream opportunities, fighting opportunities, and postal codes no longer determine our destiny,” Tamez told committee members.
Brenda Howard, the female president of the Salado Regional Republican Party, said her son is struggling with public schools in Arizona and is benefiting from the state’s “school selection program.” Arizona has an ESA program launched in 2011 and several tax credit scholarships.
“I was very grateful that Arizona offered a choice of school,” Howard testified. “I know it works. I know that public schools won’t die, and it saved my son. It’s been a time since the great states in Texas set up and offer options to empower parents and students.”
Some Texas educators opposed, claiming that education savings accounts would not benefit most students.
“While public schools educate over 5 million students in our state, we are seriously underfunded,” said Traci Dunlap, a teacher at Austin ISD. “But here we are spending yet another legislative session focusing on sucking up money from the public schools and the vast majority of Texas students attending them.”
In a financial note released on March 11, the non-partisan Texas State Legislative and Budget Committee said that the bill could be reduced to allow public schools to “before they leave public schools and participate in ESA programs.” Texas funds public schools based on student attendance.
Public education advocates also discussed concerns about the impact on students with disabilities. Under HB 3, private schools do not need to acknowledge all students or comply with federal laws that ensure that public schools provide services tailored to their needs.
Tania Tasneem, a teacher at AISD, told the committee about the students she worked with, who needed foster parents and special education services. Tasneem said he didn’t think the students had benefited from the ESA.
“Youth with disabilities don’t have the luxury of choosing a school,” she said on March 11th.
What’s next?
HB 3 was pending to the committee on March 12th. If advanced by committee members at a future hearing, Buckley’s proposal will head to the House floor. According to the Legislative Reference Library, House members will need to pass the law from the committee until May 12th.
Similar measures have stagnated in the lower rooms in recent years, with a coalition of rural House Democrats and Republicans blocking the 2023 education savings account proposal. 75 House Republicans have signed HB 3 as co-stars.
On February 5, the Texas Senate approved another educational savings account proposal for Senate Bill 2 and Senate Bill 2. The $1 billion plan will give most families $11,500 and $10,000 a year to students with disabilities.
