The long-debated and long-denied push to grant Texas families access to public money for private schooling cleared its final legislative hurdle Thursday when the state Senate accepted the House’s changes to Senate Bill 2, advancing the measure to Gov. Greg Abbott who has signaled that he will eagerly sign it into law.
“School choice has come to Texas,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick triumphantly declared from the dais after presiding over the Senate vote to concur with the House’s version of school voucher legislation Thursday.
The Senate’s move all but solidifies the passage of the controversial bill, which Abbott has touted as the path to Texas becoming No. 1 in the nation for education outcomes. Opponents of the bill, however, argue that it will mar public schools.
More: House OKs school vouchers, advances Abbott’s signature legislation: ‘Extraordinary victory’
The $1 billion proposal, which proponents call “school choice,” would give students roughly $10,500 in public money for private school tuition — or 85% of the amount they’re entitled to in public schools — and up to $30,000 for students receiving special education services.
The House’s amended version of the bill, which the Senate agreed to by a 19-12 vote Thursday, contains a few substantive changes to the proposal the Senate initially approved. All Democratic senators and Republican Sen. Robert Nichols of Jacksonville voted against the measure.
Texas Rep. Ellen Troxclair, R-Lakeway, and other members line up to ask questions about Senate Bill 2, the proposed private school voucher program, as the Texas House of Representatives debates the bill, April 16, 2025.
In agreeing to the changes made by the House, senators signed on to a voucher program that creates a more structured system for prioritizing students’ eligibility. It would first give money to students receiving special education services and then allocate the education savings accounts by a tiered income level.
The voucher program would prioritize children with special education needs in families at or below 500% of the federal poverty line — about $160,000 for a family of four. Then, the program would prioritize children from all families at 200% of the federal poverty line — about $64,000 for a family of four. Children in other income brackets would be placed in other tiers of priority.
The Senate swiftly passed its initial voucher bill Feb. 5, about three weeks into the legislative session. The upper chamber has a history of passing voucher proposals, including multiple times during the 2023 session, but the House had consistently rejected such programs.
The House had long been a stopgap against vouchers, with opposition from Democratic and rural Republican members, but the lower chamber passed the bill April 17 by a 86-61 vote.
Texas Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, speaks about his proposed amendment to Senate Bill 2, the private school voucher program, as the Texas House debates the bill April 16. Talarico’s amendment would have sent the “school choice” issue to voters to decide. The amendment was ultimately rejected.
Abbott, a three-term Republican, has made the highly charged educational program his signature issue for years. The governor spent more than a year on extensive tours to private schools and millions in political expenditures in 2024 to defeat in GOP primaries the incumbent House Republicans who had opposed a voucher proposal in 2023.
The governor’s efforts to strongarm lawmakers on the issue culminated in a phone call to House Republicans on April 16 from President Donald Trump. Ahead of a marathon session in the House, the president encouraged GOP lawmakers to vote for the program.
Senators from both parties Thursday expressed disappointment that the House stripped out some of the upper chamber’s additions to the bill, specifically a provision that would prevent members of the Legislature from taking advantage of the school choice program. Conroe Republican Sen. Brandon Creighton, the bill’s author, hinted that he may bring some of the provisions back to the floor by suspending Senate rules to file a late bill addressing those concerns.
Lawmakers react to ‘school choice’ passing in Texas
Creighton applauded the Senate’s vote on what he called a “hand up” for Texas children.
“Today marks a defining moment in Texas history. With the passage of Senate Bill 2 — the Texas Education Freedom Act — we deliver on a promise more than three decades in the making,” a statement from the lawmaker reads. “For over 30 years, lawmakers, educators, and parents have debated, dreamed, and fought for the right of families to choose the best educational path for their children. Today, we make that dream a reality.”
Senate Democrats have long opposed vouchers, and a last-ditch effort to kill the bill with a point of order failed Thursday afternoon. The Senate Democratic Caucus, chaired by Houston Sen. Carol Alvarado, said in a statement that the bill remains “deeply flawed.”
“When this bill was first considered in the Texas Senate and subsequently in the Texas House, Democrats offered numerous amendments to protect students with disabilities, uphold anti-discrimination standards for participating private schools, ensure fiscal accountability and basic transparency, prevent program cost overruns and limit eligibility to families who truly need assistance,” the statement reads. “These amendments were rejected summarily along partisan lines.
“Let’s be clear: S.B. 2 is not about ‘school choice.’ It’s about public subsidization of private schools’ choice. It is a step backward for Texas, jeopardizing the very system that supports the overwhelming majority of our children and abandoning our constitutional responsibility to provide every child with a quality public education.”
Protesters crowd the Texas State Capitol Rotunda to rally against school vouchers as the Texas State House of Representatives prepares to take up two major school funding bills- House Bill 2 and Senate Bill 2 on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. S.B. 2 would allow families to use taxpayer dollars to fund a child’s education at an accredited private school while H.B. 2 focuses on funding for public schools.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas school voucher bill clears Legislature, heads to Abbott’s desk
Read the full article here
