LAMPASAS, Texas (KXXV) — As the 2025 legislative session gets underway, one of the key issues drawing attention is school vouchers, a topic that dominated much of last year's session. This year, lawmakers could pass a bill allowing parents to use public funds for private schooling.
State Representative David Spiller, who represents House District 68, said the governor will prioritize this issue early in the session.
"The governor will name that as one of his emergency items," Spiller said. "So, that will allow us to pick that up and take that sooner than we will other topics and other bills."
For Spiller, Texas education's future is a personal and professional commitment.
"I served on the school board before I got to the legislature," Spiller said. "The only public office I held was as a school board trustee, and I did that for 26 years."
Now, Spiller represents 59 public school districts and nine private schools in his district. Despite his long-standing commitment to education, he remains focused on ensuring that any changes to the state's education system will not negatively affect his communities.
While Spiller believes his own communities may experience minimal impact from school vouchers, the issue remains a significant concern for other districts across the state.
"The makeup of the House is different. We've got more Republicans, but we have more conservative folks who are more supportive of ESAs [Education Savings Accounts] than some of those people whose place they took. So how that affects the process and how it affects the end product is yet to be determined," Spiller said.
Spiller is clear on one point: rather than a single, large bill, lawmakers are likely to pursue a series of smaller, focused bills, specifically targeting school vouchers and Education Savings Accounts.
"There are certain things that we would like to do and would want to do, and priorities are important. We think about priorities for our district and for our state, but what we can't neglect are the things that we are constitutionally required to do," he said.
State lawmakers returned to Austin on Tuesday to begin the 89th regular session. Over the next 140 days, they will work to pass a range of new legislation, with school vouchers potentially at the top of the list.
