Private school voucher bill clears first test in Texas House
The Texas House Public Education Committee voted Thursday to propose a $1 billion spending cap for the first two years of a potential school voucher program and increase by $395 the base amount of money public school districts receive for each student.
The new changes to House Bill 2, the public school funding bill, and Senate Bill 2, the voucher proposal, will now go to the full House for further consideration. All Democrats on the committee voted against the voucher legislation.
Lawmakers revealed updated versions of both bills Monday, after days of public testimony last month. The committee was slated to discuss them Tuesday, but hours after the release of the new versions, the panel rescheduled the meeting to Thursday.
While several TV stations broadcast the meeting, the committee did not stream it, drawing criticism from House Democrats. House rules this session require the streaming of public hearings but not formal meetings, which generally do not include public testimony.
The House’s proposed $1 billion spending cap on education savings accounts went into Senate Bill 2, the upper chamber’s priority voucher legislation. The proposal comes after critics raised concerns that lawmakers are downplaying the amount of money the state could spend on vouchers during the initial rollout. A budget analysis shows costs reaching nearly $5 billion by 2030.
Lawmakers on the committee approved a change to the bill that would allow only U.S. citizens or people lawfully in the country to receive vouchers, a decision that could draw scrutiny as the proposal makes its way through the rest of the Legislature. Every student in the U.S. is entitled to a public education regardless of their immigration status — and the potential voucher program would rely on public dollars.
An earlier version of House Bill 2, the school funding measure, previously proposed increasing the money districts receive to educate each student by $220. The updated version approved Thursday would increase that amount, referred to as the basic allotment, by $395. The bill would also automatically increase the basic allotment every two years by tying it to property value growth, according to the committee’s summary of the potential changes.
Current state budget proposals only set aside $1 billion for vouchers, which would allow parents to use taxpayer dollars to fund their children’s private school tuition. But if final legislation creating vouchers includes the $1 billion cap, the state by law could not spend more money on the program even if more is available.
The new proposal would also limit funding for students without disabilities or from wealthier households — 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. It would also prioritize students who exit public schools over those who are already enrolled in private schools.
Those possible changes, however, still would not require private schools to accept certain students, which has raised concerns among public education advocates. In other states, voucher programs like the one Texas is proposing primarily benefit wealthier families who had already enrolled their children in private schools.
Meanwhile, HB 2’s potential changes could increase the state’s basic allotment to $6,555 for each student, with 40% directed to salaries for school staff. Higher salary increases would go to teachers with more than a decade of classroom experience. The base funding per student has been at $6,160 since 2019.
School districts say raising that amount offers them flexibility to address the unique needs of their campuses, as opposed to money they can only use for specific purposes. The bulk of it 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.
