For the first time in decades, legislation that would create education savings accounts for Texas families to use taxpayer dollars to send their kids to private school passed out of a House committee last week. After an hourslong hearing in the House Select Committee on Educational Opportunity and Enrichment, lawmakers voted along party lines 10-4 to pass House Bill 1 to the Calendars Committee.
Despite the vote signifying possible progress on a proposal that failed to gain traction by the end of the last special session, HB 1 still faces significant roadblocks ahead – the biggest being receiving overall House approval.
“Although it made it out of committee (select), we’re hoping that this is a strategy to ultimately put an end to the special sessions and get the governor to focus on public schools instead,” Patty Quinzi, director of public affairs & legislative counsel for the Texas branch of the American Federation of Teachers said.
In a statement, Representative Trey Martinez-Fischer (D-San Antonio), chairman of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, said the vote should not be seen as a reflection of the committee’s position on the merits of a voucher scam.
The revised version of House Bill 1 bundles public school funding with ESAs, similar to the House’s proposal in the last session. This is unlike the Senate’s version of legislation of a voucher-like program, which separates the two.
House Bill 1 would provide $10,500 per child to cover private school tuition or related costs, give public school classroom teachers, counselors, nurses and librarians one-time $4,000 bonuses, increase funding for special education in public schools and up their per-student funding by more than $500 – among other measures. The proposal aims to prioritize students from low-income families and those with disabilities.
Troy Reynolds, founder of Texans for Public Education, said despite the new bill including some of the needs that public school advocates and lawmakers in the Legislature have been pushing for, it may be another non-starter. He added that the coalition of 24 rural House Republicans and most of the Democrat representatives are not showing any real signs of budging from their opposition to ESAs despite the added concessions.
However, he did note that several Democrats may be wavering, notably Representative Barbara Gervin-Hawkins (D-San Antonio), who, according to reports, was willing to potentially discuss options to compromise on the matter if it meant getting more dollars for public schools.
Despite this, she joined her fellow Democrats in voting against routing HB 1 one step closer to the full House chamber during last week’s committee meeting.
“As long as they (rural Republicans) remain solidly pro-public education, as long as they listen to their constituents, and they protect their public schools, I don’t think vouchers have a chance to get through,” Reynolds said.
Other Democrats have not backed down from their steadfast stance against ESAs, which was made clear during the committee hearing by representatives James Talarico (D-Austin) and Gina Hinojosa (D-Austin). In response to Representative Brad Buckley (R-Killeen) – who authored HB 1 – saying that the House’s legislation was a compromise, Talarico said sometimes compromise is not a good thing.
Public education advocates testifying against the bill echoed this sentiment, indicating that they would not support any voucher-like program, even if that meant sacrificing much-needed funding for public schools.
HD Chambers, executive director of the Texas School Alliance and former Superintendent of Alief ISD, referred to the state holding public education dollars as “hostage-taking” and “offensive.”
One of the major issues discussed during the hearing was the amount of money the program would cost when, in some cases, it would only act as a dip in the bucket of covering private schools’ tuition.
“In theory, having this choice may be great, but in reality, we can’t afford it,” Hinojosa said.
According to House Bill 1’s financial note, it would take roughly $7.5 billion alone to fund the measures put in place by the legislation through the next two years. Quinzi said she does not see an ESA program being an option until the state catches up after having fallen $40 billion behind the national average for public school funding.
“This is not sustainable,” Quinzi said. “They’re making promises they can’t keep in this bill.”
Those who were testifying for HB 1 challenged the arguments that those against the bill made regarding how much tuition the allotment of taxpayer dollars would actually cover for families who qualified for the program.
Jennifer Allmon, executive director of the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, mentioned that some private schools provide scholarships that could help if the state funds did not fully assist with the cost of attending a chosen school.
According to the latest report from the Education Data Initiative, the average tuition among all K-12 private schools in the state is $10,668, a little over the $10,500 in state funds families would receive. However, this cost can fluctuate, with some institutions asking for more than $30,000 or above three times the amount taxpayer dollars would cover.
“It just is a tell on how much priority he (Governor Greg Abbott) puts on actually funding public schools, he could campaign for his vouchers without holding back necessary money,” Reynolds said.
During the last special session, Abbott said he would not put public school funding on the session’s agenda until legislation creating an ESA program passed in both chambers. However, Abbott did expand the legislative call right before the end of the session, claiming that he had reached an agreement with House Speaker Dade Phelan and other House leaders.
Despite this “deal,” any chance for ESAs to pass died before the end of the session. After failing to also garner approval of several immigration-related measures, Abbott immediately called lawmakers back for a fourth special session.
“The fact that the governor is willing to call it again might portend some sort of compromise,” State Senator Nathan Johnson (D-Dallas) said. “I still have my doubts, though. This is really populist in nature, but it’s not popular. So, I think it faces some difficulties in that respect.”
Since the start of the regular legislative session, Johnson has been a proponent of focusing on funding for public schools and staunchly against supporting any kind of voucher-like program.
Although House Bill 1 awaits potential review by the full House, the Senate has already passed the new Senate Bill 1. SB 1 is the same measure initially proposed by senators, which stalled out in the House last session. The proposal would provide $8,000 per student to cover private school tuition and related expenses and $1,000 per child for families who homeschool their kids.
In a statement Senator Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe), the author of Senate Bill 1, applauded the passage of HB 1 out of the House’s select committee.
Abbott has said he is prepared to call lawmakers back if his priority of “school choice” fails to gain the necessary support to pass in both chambers this session. He added that legislators could expect to be at the Capitol from December through February if no action is taken on ESAs.
The House Calendars Committee met on Monday morning to set Tuesday’s House floor agenda, which will include debate on two bills related to immigration that would provide more funding for the border and border security and create criminal offenses for illegal entry.
The House convened Monday evening after a quorum was absent on Friday. Phelan told the House that after the debate concludes on Tuesday, he plans to recess until Friday, when House Bill 1 will be eligible for consideration.
The Senate met on Monday at 2 p.m. but gaveled out shortly after.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
