"Texas House unveils its private school voucher bill" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
The Texas House filed priority legislation on Thursday that would allow some families to use taxpayer dollars to fund their children’s private school tuition, a bill that will likely rest at the center of one of the most contentious battles of this year’s legislative session.
Under House Bill 3, the state would distribute funds through state-managed education savings accounts that families could use for private school tuition and other educational expenses, like textbooks, transportation and therapy. Most participating students would receive 85% of the amount public schools get for each student through state and local funding.
The exact amount the state would make available to families is not immediately clear. The Texas Education Agency calculates that the state’s public schools receive roughly $15,503 per student, but that number includes funds from the federal government and other sources that may not directly support classroom instruction.
Children with disabilities would have eligibility to receive the same funding, plus additional dollars the state regularly provides for special education services in a public school.
[School choice, vouchers and the future of Texas education]
The House’s plan would put $1 billion toward the voucher-like education savings accounts, a priority for Gov. Greg Abbott. The program’s future growth would be tied to public education funding increases.
Any child eligible to attend or already attending a public school could apply to the program. So could those enrolled in a public school’s pre-K program and families with children already attending private schools.
“House Bill 3 delivers what Texans have been asking for: a true universal school choice program,” said House Speaker Dustin Burrows at the Texas Public Policy Summit. “And let me be clear, we have the votes to get it done.”
The House’s voucher proposal has been much anticipated since the Senate passed its own package, Senate Bill 2, earlier this month. Though proposals have sailed through the Senate several times under Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the chamber’s Republican leader, and have died each time in the House against opposition from Democrats and rural Republicans.
After a bruising primary last year, in which Abbott went after House Republicans who had opposed his priority voucher legislation in 2023, the chamber has more voucher supporters than ever. In November, a day after the general election, Abbott claimed to have 79 “hardcore” voucher supporters, more than the majority threshold to pass the long-time conservative priority issue.
But in recent weeks, there have been questions about the strength of that support. Some lawmakers, including former House Speaker Dade Phelanof Beaumont, have said publicly they haven’t made their mind up on whether to support a voucher program. Teachers’ unions and public school supporters have been lobbying lawmakers hard against vouchers, saying such a program would drain resources away from their already struggling public schools.
Texas budget experts recently concluded in their analysis of the Senate voucher proposal that public schools, which receive money based on attendance, may experience a decrease in funding due to students leaving the public education system to participate in the voucher program.
Burrows pushed back against that argument Thursday, saying the state can both increase funding for public education and provide an alternative that would allow some families to put public dollars toward their children’s private education. He called the approach the “Texas two-step plan” and noted the House had also filed House Bill 2, which would increase public school funding by raising the basic amount of funding public schools receive per student from $6,160 to $6,380.
Lawmakers have not increased that amount, known as the basic allotment, since 2019.
“We're going to make historic investments in public education, because, despite what detractors say, you can provide meaningful opportunities to parents to choose where their child is [educated] and also take care of public education,” Burrows said.
He noted the House’s voucher bill would provide “universal eligibility,” meaning most school-aged children in Texas would be able to apply. He also said the state’s education savings accounts program would prioritize students with disabilities and low-income students.
One possible point of contention between the House and the Senate might be who qualifies as a “low-income” family. The Senate’s proposal prioritizes access to students with disabilities and those with families whose annual income is up to 500% of the federal poverty level. That would include any four-person household earning less than roughly $156,000.
Burrows said students with disabilities would receive their “full state entitlement,” which he said would increase under the House’s legislation to increase public school funding.
Burrows called the education savings accounts proposed by the House’s legislation a “true savings account” that would give parents the flexibility to “use funds when and how they need them.”
He said the legislation would create options for parents who feel like their children are in bad public schools.
“School choice doesn't damage public schools or take money away from them,” he said. “School choice is important to the education ecosystem, creating more options for those who have none.”
But he stressed the lower chamber’s two-pronged approach.
“Families deserve options, schools deserve resources,” he said. “One without the other leaves Texas short.”
This is a developing story; check back for details.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/20/texas-house-school-vouchers/.
The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
