Public schools could have fewer students and less funding if Gov. Greg Abbott’s voucher plan passes, according to critics. Credit: Shutterstock / legenda

San Antonio school districts stand to lose more than $100 million in state and local funding if Gov. Greg Abbott’s school voucher plan, Senate Bill 2, is approved by the Texas House, according to nonpartisan legislative think tank Every Texan.

Every Texan, which advocates for equity-expanding legislation, combed through the finances of Texas public school districts and estimated how much they each would lose if 1%, 3% and 5% of their students jumped ship for private campuses. Education funding in the state is largely determined by districts’ student enrollment numbers.

Under SB 2, families of a lucky 100,000 students would receive a $10,000 taxpayer-funded voucher to pay for private school tuition. Education experts and a coalition of Democrat and rural Republican lawmakers caution the proposal would likely damage already dwindling public-school enrollment while leading to inflation in private-school tuition prices.

“This is a half-baked plan, and I hope that folks in the [Texas] House of Representatives will do as a lot of Republicans did when I was in the state legislature, which is look at the facts, look at how harmful it would be to their schools and communities, and vote it down,” U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, a San Antonio Democrat, said during a Tuesday press call.

Despite those warnings, Abbott said Monday at a “parent empowerment night” rally at San Antonio Christian School that his voucher scheme — which he calls “school choice” — won’t cause a decline in public-school funding.

“There is a category of funding that is going to be provided for public schools,” Abbott said. “There is a separate category of funding that is going to be provided for school choice. You don’t take from one and give to the other.”

That contradicts a separate claim Abbott fired off last week. In a tweet, the Republican governor said “the people ‘defunding’ public schools are PARENTS choosing a better option than what their assigned school provides.”

Here is how much San Antonio-area school districts stand to lose, according to Every Texan, if 5% of their students leave due to the voucher proposal being considered in the legislature:

  • Harlandale ISD — $4,845,426, 90 fewer teachers, 96,908 fewer library books, a projected increase in the student-teacher ratio of 7.19%
  • Edgewood ISD — $3,246,681, 60 fewer teachers, 64,933 fewer library books, a projected increase in the student-teacher ratio of 7.09%
  • San Antonio ISD — $18,315,873, 341 fewer teachers, 366,317 fewer library books, projected increase in student-teacher ratio of 7.28%
  • Northside ISD — $41,444,378, 773 fewer teachers, 828,887 fewer library books, projected increase in student-teacher ratio of 7.3%
  • East Central ISD — 4,583,068, 85 fewer teachers, 91,661 fewer library books, projected increase in student-teacher ratio of 7.08%
  • Northeast ISD — $23,522,042, 439 fewer teachers, 470,440 fewer library books, projected increase in the student-teacher ratio of 7.32%
  • South San Antonio ISD — $3,041,714, 56 fewer teachers, 60,834 fewer library books, projected increase in student-teacher ratio of 6.93%
  • Southwest ISD — $5,821,070, 108 fewer teachers, 116,421 fewer library books, projected increase in student-teacher ratio of 7.21%
  • Judson ISD — $9,772,838, 182 fewer teachers for students, 195,456 fewer library books, projected increase in the student-teacher ratio of 7.27%
  • Alamo Heights ISD — $1,926,692, 35 fewer teachers, 38,533 fewer library books, projected increase in the student-teacher ratio of 6.65%
  • Boerne ISD — $4,476,485, 83 fewer teachers, 89,529 fewer library books, a projected increase in student-teacher ratio of 7.13%
  • New Braunfels ISD — $4,009,159, 74 fewer teachers, 80,183 fewer library books, a projected increase in the student-teacher ratio of 7.15%

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This article appears in Feb 5-18, 2025.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...