Texas school voucher bill clears Senate committee

Texas lawmakers on Tuesday kicked off their latest quest for school vouchers with the passage of a universal program by a Senate committee after hours of public testimony for and against the move.

The education savings account program in Senate Bill 2 would cost the state’s general revenue fund an estimated nearly $1.007 billion for the upcoming fiscal 2026-27 biennium, rising to almost $3 billion in fiscal 2028 and to $3.7 billion in fiscal 2030 based on assumptions for available funding and gradual increases in private school capacity, according to a Legislative Budget Board fiscal note.

Two-year budgets proposed by the Republican-controlled House and Senate each include $1 billion for a voucher program, as well as a funding boost for public schools as Texas coffers continue to overflow with cash.

Under the bill, which passed the Senate Education Committee in a 9-2 vote, students enrolled in accredited private schools would receive $10,000 annually or $11,500 if disabled. Home schooled students would get $2,000 a year, according to the fiscal note.  

If demand exceeds available funding, 80% of the allocation would be given to current public school students with household incomes less than 500% of the federal poverty level or those who have a disability. The remaining 20% would be subject to a lottery.

In 2023, voucher legislation floundered after it passed the Senate four times and was repeatedly blocked in the House by a coalition of Republicans and Democrats. Special legislative sessions called by voucher proponent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott that year tied “school choice” to a public education funding increase.

The outlook for public school finance in the state is bleak, according to testimony Tuesday from the Texas State Teachers Association, which raised concerns about the voucher program’s cost and oversight of private schools receiving state money.

“As is the case with other states, the billions allocated for voucher schemes without additional state income sources will be a continuing burden on the Texas budget,” the group said in written testimony. 

In Arizona, which enacted the nation’s first universal program in 2022, actual costs have far exceeded initial estimates. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs this month called for “responsible” income caps for eligibility and greater transparency on how money is spent.

One of the Texas bill’s authors, Republican State Sen. Brandon Creighton, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said the measure builds on the 2023 legislation and would serve nearly 100,000 students, making it the largest “school choice” program launch in the nation. 

“Key provisions that we’ve worked on — like our anti-fraud provision safeguards, mandatory history, criminal history checks for any vendors, rigorous reporting requirements, and robust data protections — they’re retained or expanded,” he said.