‘A lifeline for families,’ Texas legislature passes universal school choice bill
“Thanks to the dedication of our lawmakers, Texas families will soon have education freedom,” wrote Greg Abbott, the state governor.
JNS
Apr 25, 20225
A week after the Texas state House passed a universal school choice bill by a vote of 86 to 61, the state Senate voted 19 to 12 in favor of SB 2, which would create a $1 billion education savings account program that families could use for private school education and certain associated costs.
Rabbi Ari Weisenfeld, national director of state relations at Agudath Israel of America, told JNS the state’s decision “is more than a legislative victory.”
“It’s a lifeline for families who have prayed for the chance to give their children a brighter future,” Weisenfeld said. “It’s a historic day for our parents and students in Texas, and we thank all the lawmakers and advocates that help make it happen.”
The bill now heads to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who has said he will sign it. “Thanks to the dedication of our lawmakers, Texas families will soon have education freedom,” the governor stated on Thursday. “This is historic school choice legislation.”
Jason Bedrick, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy, where he focuses in part on school choice, told JNS that “enacting universal education choice in Texas is a huge boon to all Texas families, particularly those in communities that prioritize religious education.”
Akiba-Yavneh Academy, a private Jewish school in Dallas
Bedrick noted that there are 28 Jewish private schools in Texas that currently serve nearly 6,000 students, per the site Private School Review. “All those students will now be eligible for education savings accounts,” Bedrick told JNS.
“That said, universal eligibility does not mean universal access. The legislature only appropriated enough funds to serve about 1.5% of Texas students. That means there is likely going to be oversubscription, so the ESAs will be rationed,” Bedrick said.
“The statute reserves 80% of the scholarships for low- and middle-income families, and students from higher-income families will only be eligible if they are switching out of a public school,” he added. “In future legislative sessions, it will be incumbent upon state lawmakers to expand the ESAs so that they serve all Texas children.”
“Looking forward to seeing school choice signed into law in Texas,” wrote Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). “Every young student deserves access to the best pathway for their educational needs.”
Dan Patrick, the Texas lieutenant governor, stated that he had worked for more than a decade, since he was chair of the state Senate in 2013, pushing school choice in the state. “It is a great day for Texas students and parents,” he wrote.
“The Texas Senate has passed school choice six times since 2015, because parents should be able to place students in the educational environment that works best for them. All of the previous bills died in the Texas House, and I am so glad they have finally passed SB 2 this session,” Patrick said.
“As it came out of the Senate, the bill spent $1 billion to create a series of education savings accounts worth $10,000. Open to all parents with school-aged children, the bill implemented a lottery system to assign slots if there were more applicants than resources,” per the Texas state Senate.
“This money could pay for private school tuition, fees, uniforms and other educational services outside of the public system,” the legislative body stated. “The House version changed how slots would be allocated. Students from families with incomes above 500% of the federal poverty level would be limited to no more than 20% of available slots. It prioritizes students with siblings already in private education, those with disabilities and then in increments up to 500% the federal poverty level.”
The federal poverty level for a family of four in the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia is $32,150 for 2025, which would mean that families of four with an income of $160,750 or less would be eligible for the Texas school choice program.
Bedrick wrote in the Daily Signal that the Texas state House’s decision to vote for the bill is “a historic victory for educational freedom” that is “not just a win for families in the Lone Star State, but a watershed moment for the entire school choice movement.”
When Abbott signs the bill, “half of America’s children will live in states where they are eligible for educational choice programs, including 15 states with ‘universal’ choice policies for which every K-12 student is eligible,” Bedrick wrote. “More than one in 10 U.S. students live in Texas.”
“The Texas House debated the bill for more than 12 hours Wednesday before passing the bill early Thursday morning,” Bedrick wrote in the April 17 article. “Opponents of the legislation attempted to obstruct it by filing more than 170 amendments. The House voted on more than 40 amendments, voting them all down, except for the friendly amendment proposed by House Public Education Committee chairman Brad Buckley.”
Bedrick noted that U.S. President Donald Trump called the Republican state House caucus, encouraging its members to vote in favor of the bill.
The bill isn’t perfect, according to Bedrick. It would fund accounts with $10,000 annually, though the state spends an average of $17,000 per student per year in Texas public schools. And while it provides up to $30,000 for students with certain disabilities, it only allocates $2,000 annually for homeschoolers, Bedrick wrote.
He also wrote that children from higher-income families are not eligible if they are already in private school. “As respected Texas-based economist Vance Ginn observed, ‘That’s a slap in the face to families already sacrificing for private or home education,’” he wrote.
There are also “additional structural flaws in the bill, including unnecessary accreditation requirements that will limit the supply of new schools and other education providers,” Bedrick wrote. “This limited progress also came at a great cost—including $7.7 billion in additional spending on the bloated and inefficient Texas public school system that passed in a separate bill just before Senate Bill 2.”
Still, the bill will give lawmakers in Texas “every right to brag that this represents the largest first-year education savings account program in the nation,” he wrote. “The Lone Star State still has a long way to go to achieve truly universal education choice, but the policies in Senate Bill 2 represent a Texas-sized step in the right direction.”
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