AUSTIN, Texas — Hundreds showed up to the Texas Capitol on Tuesday to testify during a public hearing on the Texas House of Representative’s plan to give taxpayer money to some Texas families for private schooling.
The House Public Education Committee began its marathon hearing at 8 a.m., and testimony continued well into the evening. Nearly 400 Texans signed up to share their thoughts with state lawmakers on the bill.
The hearing room was packed throughout the day and was at capacity for much of that time. Capitol staff opened three overflow rooms throughout the Capitol complex to allow people to watch the hearing. More than 8.5 hours into the committee hearing, lawmakers had not heard any public testimony. They were still listening to education experts they invited to come to the Capitol and testify about the bill.
State Rep. Brad Buckley (R-Salado) filed the House’s proposal to create ESAs. The policy that Republicans call “school choice” would allow parents to use state funds to help send their children to private schools.
“My intent is to provide families with the opportunity to choose the best possible educational setting for their child,” Buckley said. “I believe House Bill 3 provides this choice while prioritizing Texas’ most high-needs and vulnerable students.”
Under House Bill 3, students in the program would receive funding for private school tuition equal to 85% of the average state and local funding public schools receive per student. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) estimated that number to be about $12,800 in fiscal year 2023. Based on that, students in the ESA program would be eligible for a little under $10,900, with the number possibly fluctuating as the average state and local funding per child changes.
Up to $30,000 would be given to students in special education, and HB 3 would provide up to $2,000 for homeschooling. The amount of money the state spends on special education can fluctuate depending on the classroom.
If the state gets more ESA applications than what it has money for, students living below the poverty line and children with disabilities would be prioritized.
“There are parents now that are working families with kids with special needs struggling mightily to find an environment where their kids can succeed,” Buckley said. “It’s entirely proper for them to have access and opportunity and some relief. They pay their taxes, they’re good citizens and they pay tuition for their kids to put them in an environment that fits their kid’s needs the best. This bill reflects that.”
The House plan has a stricter tier system to determine eligibility:
- Students with disabilities from families with an annual income at or below 500% of the federal poverty level, which for a four-person household would mean earning less than $156,000.
- Families at or below 200% of the poverty level, which for a four-person household would mean earning less than $62,400.
- Families between 200% and 500% of the poverty level.
- Families at or above 500% of the poverty level.
Democratic state lawmakers on the committee say that even with the prioritization tiers, House Bill 3 will disproportionately help families who already send their kids to private school.
“We’re going to run through priority 1, 2 and priority 3,” State Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin) said. “The majority of the users of this voucher program will be priority 4, which are people that are a lot wealthier than most families in Texas and who already have their kids in private school.”
School choice is a top priority for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. While the committee hearings were going on, Abbott spoke just down the street at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Surrounded by homeschooled and private school students and families, he encouraged Texans to voice their support for school choice and go to the Capitol and testify.
“You need to be a tsunami, a giant wave of support over in the Capitol to make sure that every state representative knows there is overwhelming support for school choice,” Abbott said.
Abbott and Republican leaders believe they have the votes to pass ESAs this session.
“We will succeed in Texas in delivering school choice for every parent and every child in the great state of Texas,” Abbott said.
In 2023, state lawmakers held four special sessions on ESAs. Each proposal faced opposition from Democrats and some rural Republican lawmakers who said a school voucher program would drain more resources from Texas’ already struggling public education system.
Abbott said this is the closest the state has ever been to passing school choice, and he credited the House Speaker Dustin Burrows. Burrows joined him at the “Parent Empowerment” event at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
“I do believe one of the basic principles of this country is competition, and competition makes everything stronger and better,” Burrows said. “This will not only help parents, but it will also make public education stronger because of competition in it.”
The bill’s total cost is $1 billion, the same as the Senate’s ESA bill. However, the amount a student would get differs from the Senate’s plan. Lawmakers in the Senate already passed a different ESA bill, which would allow families in the program to use at least $10,000 per child per year to pay for tuition at an accredited private school. That amount would jump to $11,500 for families of children with disabilities. SB 2 would mean more students could get an ESA, while the House would put more money into each ESA.
Of the total funding, $200 million would fund Universal ESAs, meaning any student could apply for that money. The other $800 million would be set aside for students with special needs or who are low-income. Senate Bill 2 defines low income as at or below 500% of the federal poverty line.
Rep. Gina Hinajosa (D-Austin) said there is bipartisan opposition to the plan because it would harm already underfunded public schools. School leaders said ESAs would especially hurt rural public schools because a drop in funding would cause them to strip their budgets to just the necessities, with no funding for things like sports teams or bands.
“The list of our needs goes on and on, yet we still waste time on this voucher scam. It is unacceptable. It makes no sense,” Rep. Hinajosa said. “It takes more money out of our neighborhood schools to get to private schools when public schools have no more to give.”
The Texas Freedom Network and public education advocates hosted a press conference urging lawmakers to reject HB 3.
“Vouchers are dangerous policy that deprives Texas students of quality education as guaranteed by our state’s constitution,” Da’Taeveyon Daniels, deputy executive director for Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, said, “by diverting critical funding away from public schools, the same public schools that are the only source of education for students in rural and underserved communities across our state.”
Felicia Martin, the executive director of Texas Freedom Network, said HB 3 would hit communities of color and the LGBTQ+ community hard since private schools are not required to accept all students.
“Students with disabilities would lose federally protected rights,” Martin said. “LGBTQ+ students and families like mine could face discrimination at schools taking taxpayer dollars. Black and brown children who have historically faced barriers to educational opportunity would see their neighborhood schools further drained of resources.”
If the bill passes out of committee, lawmakers can debate it on the House floor. It would then have to go to the Senate. Meanwhile, the Senate ESA bill is sitting in the House Public Education Committee, awaiting a hearing.