AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- Proponents of education savings accounts (ESA) will have a close eye on Gov. Greg Abbott's State of the State address Sunday evening, where he is likely to declare school choice an emergency item. If he does, it would allow the Texas Senate to pass its ESA legislation as early as next week.
The bill carrying the ESA legislation, SB 2, cleared the Senate Education K-16 Committee this week with no amendments. It would provide $2,000 per student for home schooling, $10,000 for students attending an accredited private school, and $11,500 for students with disabilities.
During the hearing in the senate committee this week, though, some senators questioned whether the money would be enough to cover the costs associated with private school.
"I'm not sure that will cover -- and in many schools it will cover tuition but it may not cover uniforms, transportation, lunch," said State Sen. José Menéndez, D-San Antonio.
The money in the ESA can be used for tuition, instructional materials, higher education courses, trade certificates, assessment costs, tutoring and transportation.
SB 2 author Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, said it is a great question to raise, but said that he believes his bill's framework is enough to give low-income families enough money to send them to the private school of their choice.
"We're above the average on the allotments for public school kids. We're above the average tuition for private schools across Texas, and there's incredible philanthropy to help fill the gap for any low income students who need additional help," Creighton said.
His office references data obtained by the Texas Private School Accreditation Commission which shows private school tuition in 2023-2024 was:
GRADE LEVELAVERAGEMEDIANK-8$10,965$8,9009-12$14,986$12,500His office also points to numbers shared by the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, which says 48% of students in Texas Catholic schools receive tuition assistance with the average amount provided at $3,400.
But critics argue the number of private schools are not equally distributed around the state. For example, Austin has 78 accredited private schools while San Angelo only has four. State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, said he opposes the bill, arguing that the median tuition of K-8 grade level of private schools is weighted down by a lot of small enrollment schools that will not have enough slots.
He adds that the median price for tuition is higher in the metro areas.
"If you gave my former students on the west side of San Antonio a $10,000 voucher, there's still no way they could afford a $20,000 a year private school," Talarico explained.
He also points out that special education private schools are far more expensive than the average private school. According to Private School Review, the average tuition for those specialty schools is $20,871. Students with disabilities can earn up to $11,500 a year in the proposed ESA program.
Future of the bill
A version of SB 2 passed several times out of the higher chamber in sessions prior to this year, but has never been able to get enough support in the House of Representatives. Currently there is no house bill to accompany SB 2, but Creighton says he is encouraged the House's budget proposal mirrors the Senate' version in providing $1 billion for an ESA program.
Lawmakers are not allowed to approve any bill in the first 60 days of session unless the Governor declares an item as an emergency. Abbott has said school choice is a top priority for him and even worked to campaign against House Republicans who voted against the bill last session.
He has said he has enough votes in the House to get school choice passed this year, and he is gaining more support for school choice in Washington D.C. President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday that directs multiple federal agencies to provide a plan or guidance to states on how they can use federal dollars to provide scholarship programs for grade school students.
"I'm just excited that President Trump is supporting Texas and the rest of the country in this effort," said Creighton said of the executive order.
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