Texas Senate passes Republican-backed bill to create school voucher program

The Republican-controlled Texas Senate passed school voucher legislation on Wednesday, clearing controversial Senate Bill 2 to go to the lower chamber for debate.

SB 2 would let families draw $10,000 annually per student in taxpayer money to fund tuition at accredited private schools and cover other educational expenses. The payout would jump to $11,500 to families of students with disabilities.

Additionally, the bill would provide at least $2,000 annually per student for families that home school. Home-schooled students with disabilities would get an additional $2,500 per year.

The legislation passed 19-12 over vigorous pushback from Democrats in the GOP-controlled Senate.

SB 2 now faces debate in the Texas House, where bipartisan opposition shut down a nearly identical measure last session. However, Gov. Greg Abbott, who’s made vouchers one of his top legislative priorities, has said pro-voucher Republicans now have enough votes to ramrod the proposal through the House.

Last year, Abbott poured nearly $9 million into House primary campaigns that ousted nine incumbent Republican voucher opponents, including San Antonio Rep. Steve Allison. Republican megadonor Jeff Yass, an outspoken voucher proponent, contributed more than $6 million to that total.

Public school associations and parents in rural and inner-city public schools have pushed back against vouchers, arguing that the plan will divert money away from underfunded districts already struggling with low student enrollment.

During questioning on the Senate floor, Democrats also raised concerns that the SB 2 would enable shoddy private campuses to spring up that don’t face the same standards as the state’s public schools.

“Don’t you believe there should be a minimum number of years that those schools should be in existence to prove that they are worthy of accepting these students and not wasting taxpayer dollars?” Texas Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, asked the bill’s author, Texas Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe. “I mean, many of us talk about transparency all the time — and accountability.”

“Better than government, Sen. West, moms and dads are going to police that,” Creighton said.

Despite Creighton’s assurances, House Democrats said they’re prepared for a street fight over vouchers.

“To say, ‘Here’s tax dollars to go somewhere where not every kid can get in, not every kid can afford it, it’s not even geographically available to everybody, and you don’t have to take the [the state’s standardized achievement tests]?’ It’s a fucking scam,” State Rep. Diego Bernal, D-San Antonio, recently told the Current. Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.

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This article appears in Jan 22 – Feb 4, 2025.