By james art 
Senate Republicans unveiled their proposal for a school voucher-like program Friday with the filing of Senate Bill 2. The bill would create Education Savings Accounts, or ESAs, that allow families to use $10,000 in state funds per student for private tuition and other approved Education Expenses.
Creating a voucher-like program for Texas has been a top priority for Gov. Greg Abbott for years. The effort to pass the proposal—which failed in both the regular 88th legislative session and multiple special sessions in 2023—has resurfaced since last November’s election with a much stronger chance of making it to the finals this year . That’s because several new pro-voucher Republicans joined the Texas House, where similar measures stalled last session.
Most notably, the House signaled its increased support for some form of vouchers earlier this week when it introduced a budget proposal that, like the Senate’s budget proposal, includes $1 billion for such a program.
“This session, we are fully committed to passing universal, comprehensive school choice legislation, ensuring that every family in Texas has access to the educational opportunities they deserve,” said State Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe), Committee Chairman for Education in the Senate. “It’s time for Texas to join the 32 other states that are already empowering parents and students with greater educational freedom.”
Mandy Drogin, director of the Next Generation Texas campaign, said the bill would establish “the largest ESA program of the day in the country.”
What the voucher-like program in Senate Bill 2 includes
All students in Texas would be eligible for ESAS under SB 2, regardless of whether they are currently enrolled in a public or private school or have been homeschooled. Under the legislation, if applications exceed program capacity, 80 percent of spots will be filled by lottery among students who previously attended public school and are either low-income or have a disability. The remaining 20% will be filled by an open lottery among all eligible applicants.
Under SB 2, if a family enrolls their child in a private school, the student will receive $10,000 a year, or $11,500 if the student has a disability. Critics of the proposal, including UT Austin’s David DeMatthews, say those amounts would likely fall far short of what is needed to subsidize a private school education.
“It’s a joke of a money gap for our students with disabilities,” said DeMatthys, an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at UT Austin.
While that dollar amount can it seems Large, DeMatthews said, will not help parents cover all the costs associated with private school. He worries that it would lead to “the creation of a dual system where public schools will educate almost every child with a disability, especially a child with autism or an intellectual disability.”
DeMatthews also told The Texas Newsroom that the Senate legislation does not include enough accountability for private schools. The bill would require students in the ESA program to take a national norm-referenced assessment. Matthews believes it would not be easily comparable to the state’s standardized tests, making it difficult for parents to make comparisons or track improvements.
SB 2 has already been sent to the Senate Education Committee, which Creighton chairs. Being voted out of committee would be the legislation’s first step for discussion and a vote in the full House.
Under state rules, the Texas Legislature cannot pass legislation for the first 60 days of its session — that is, unless the governor designates a measure as an emergency. Abbott listed vouchers as an emergency item early in the last regular legislative session in 2023, then called three separate special sessions to address the issue when it failed to pass the House.
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