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Legislative support for and opposition to universal school choice in Texas (2023-2024)

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Texas legislators introduced House Bill 1 in the final special session of 2023. The bill proposed enacting education savings accounts (ESAs), which would have allowed parents to use public funds for private school tuition, homeschooling expenses, or other educational services.[1]

The Texas House voted 84-63 to remove ESAs from the legislation. The 63 ESA supporters were Republican, but 21 Republicans joined with House Democrats to oppose the provisions.[1]

After the legislation died, Governor Greg Abbott (R) announced plans to oppose Republican House members in the 2024 primary election who voted against the policies. Nine ESA opponents lost their seats to primary challengers who supported school choice.

Timeline

  • May 28, 2024

    Three Republicans who voted against ESAs were defeated in Texas' primary runoff.

  • March 5, 2024

    Six Republicans who voted against ESAs were defeated in Texas' primary election.

  • December 5, 2023

    The special session ended, and House Bill 1 died.

  • November 17, 2023

    The state House voted 84-63 to remove the ESA provisions from House Bill 1. Twenty-one Republicans voted against ESAs.

  • November 7, 2023

    The school choice special session ended with Senate Bill 1 dead in the House. Governor Abbott convened a follow-up special session. Legislators introduced House Bill 1, which proposed creating an ESA program.

View all

Background

During the 2023 regular legislative session, Texas lawmakers considered House Bill 5261 and Senate Bill 8, which both died in their respective chambers.[2][3]

Governor Greg Abbott (R) called a special session, which began October 9, during which Senate Republicans passed an ESA bill (Senate Bill 1) 19-12 along party lines. The bill died in the House.[4]

Abbott called another special session, which began on November 7, during which legislators considered House Bill 1. The House voted 84-63 to remove Article 6 (which contained the ESA provisions) from the legislation on November 17, and the bill died.[1]

Provisions

The most contested provisions in Texas House Bill 1 were related to school choice and the creation of ESAs. The bill proposed allocating $500 million from the state's general revenue to establish over 60,000 ESAs, each valued at $8,000 per student per year. Parents with children outside of public schools would have been able to use the funds on education-related expenses, such as private school tuition, homeschooling costs, and other educational services.

The full text of Article 6, which proposed establishing ESAs, read as follows:[5]

“

ARTICLE 6. EDUCATION SAVINGS ACCOUNT PROGRAM

SECTION 6.01. Chapter 29, Education Code, is amended by adding Subchapter J to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER J. EDUCATION SAVINGS ACCOUNT PROGRAM

Sec. 29.351. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:

(1) "Account" means an education savings account established under the program.

(2) "Certified educational assistance organization" means an organization certified under Section 29.354 to support the administration of the program.

(3) "Child with a disability" means a child who is eligible to participate in a school district's special education program under Section 29.003.

(4) "Higher education provider" means an institution of higher education or a private or independent institution of higher education, as those terms are defined by Section 61.003.

(5) "Parent" means a resident of this state who is a natural or adoptive parent, managing or possessory conservator, legal guardian, custodian, or other person with legal authority to act on behalf of a child.

(6) "Participating child" means a child enrolled in the program.

(7) "Participating parent" means a parent of a participating child who submitted an application under Section 29.356 on behalf of the child.

(8) "Program" means the program established under this subchapter.

(9) "Program participant" means a participating child or a participating parent.

Sec. 29.352. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. The comptroller shall establish a program to provide funding for approved education-related expenses of participating children.

Sec. 29.3521. AMOUNT OF APPROPRIATION. The amount of money appropriated for a state fiscal biennium for purposes of the program may not exceed the greater of:

(1) the amount of money appropriated for purposes of the program for the preceding biennium; or

(2) the amount of money necessary for the biennium to provide the amount specified under Section 29.361 for each participating child and each child on the waiting list maintained by the comptroller under Section 29.356(d) on the January 1 preceding the biennium.

Sec. 29.353. PROGRAM FUND.

(a) The program fund is an account in the general revenue fund to be administered by the comptroller.

(b) The fund is composed of:

(1) money appropriated to the fund;

(2) gifts, grants, and donations received under Section 29.370; and

(3) any other money available for purposes of the program.

(c) Money in the fund may be appropriated only for the uses specified by this subchapter.

(d) The governor and the Legislative Budget Board may not transfer or repurpose money under a proposal under Chapter 317, Government Code, to provide funding to administer the program.

Sec. 29.3535. PROMOTION OF PROGRAM. Notwithstanding Chapter 2113, Government Code, the comptroller or the comptroller's designee may enter into contracts or agreements and engage in marketing, advertising, and other activities to promote, market, and advertise the development and use of the program. The comptroller may use money from the program fund to pay for activities authorized under this section.

Sec. 29.354. SELECTION OF CERTIFIED EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE ORGANIZATIONS.

(a) An organization may apply to the comptroller for certification as a certified educational assistance organization during an application period established by the comptroller.

(b) To be eligible for certification, an organization must:

(1) have the ability to perform one or more of the duties and functions required of a certified educational assistance organization under this subchapter;

(2) be in good standing with the state; and

(3) be able to assist the comptroller in administering the program in whole or in part, such as the ability to:

(A) accept, process, and track applications for the program;

(B) assist prospective applicants, applicants, and program participants with finding preapproved education service providers and vendors of educational products;

(C) accept and process payments for approved education-related expenses; and

(D) verify that program funding is used only for approved education-related expenses.

(c) The comptroller may certify one or more educational assistance organizations to support the administration of the program, including by:

(1) administering in whole or in part:

(A) the application process under Section 29.356; and

(B) the program expenditures process under Section 29.360; and

(2) assisting prospective applicants, applicants, and program participants with understanding approved education-related expenses and finding preapproved education service providers and vendors of educational products.

(d) A certified educational assistance organization is not considered to be a provider of professional or consulting services under Chapter 2254, Government Code.

Sec. 29.355. ELIGIBLE CHILD.

(a) A child is eligible to participate in the program and may, subject to available funding and the requirements of this subchapter, initially enroll in the program for the following school year if the child is eligible to attend a public school under Section 25.001 and:

(1) either:

(A) was enrolled in a public school in this state for at least 90 percent of the school year preceding the school year for which the child applies to enroll in the program;

(B) is enrolling in kindergarten or first grade for the first time; or

(C) attended a private school on a full-time basis or was home-schooled for the preceding school year; or

(2) is a sibling of a child who is eligible to participate in the program and:

(A) applies to enroll in the program for the same school year in which the sibling applies to enroll in the program; or

(B) is participating in the program.

(b) A child who establishes eligibility under this section may, subject to available funding and the requirements of this subchapter, participate in the program until the earliest of the following dates:

(1) the date on which the child graduates from high school;

(2) the date on which the child is no longer eligible to attend a public school under Section 25.001;

(3) the date on which the child enrolls in a public school, including an open-enrollment charter school, in a manner in which the child will be counted toward the school's average daily attendance for purposes of the allocation of funding under the foundation school program;

(4) the date on which the child fails to perform satisfactorily for the second consecutive year on an assessment instrument required under Section 29.371; or

(5) the date on which the child is declared ineligible for the program by the comptroller under this subchapter.

(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) or (b), a child is not eligible to participate in the program during the period in which the child's parent or legal guardian is a state representative or state senator.[6]

”

Aftermath

Nine ESA opponents lose seats in 2024 primary election

Following the vote defeating Article 6, Governor Greg Abbott (R) announced he would oppose the House Republicans who voted against the ESA provisions in the 2024 primary elections.[7]

Of the 21 legislators who voted against ESAs in the House, 16 ran for reelection, and all of them faced primary challengers. Abbott endorsed challengers in 10 of the races.

The governor also endorsed all 59 legislators who voted for ESAs in 2023 and ran for re-election in 2024. Of the 59 incumbents, 28 (48.5%) faced primary challengers.

Incumbents who opposed ESAs were defeated at a higher rate than incumbents who supported the program. Of the 16 anti-ESA incumbents, nine (56.3%) lost their races—six in the March 5 primary election and three in the May 28 primary runoff. Of the 59 pro-ESA incumbents, five (8%) lost their races.

Abbott tweeted after Texas' May 28 runoff election that "[t]he Texas Legislature now has enough votes to pass School Choice."[8]

See also

Other school choice-related content:

Other education policy content


External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Legiscan, "Texas House Bill 1 (Prior Session Legislation)," accessed December 10, 2024
  2. ↑ Legiscan, "Texas House Bill 5261 (Prior Session Legislation)," accessed December 10, 2024
  3. ↑ Legiscan, "Texas Senate Bill 8 (Prior Session Legislation)," accessed December 10, 2024
  4. ↑ Legiscan, "Texas Senate Bill 1 (Prior Session Legislation)," accessed December 10, 2024
  5. ↑ The Texas Legislature, "H.B. No. 1," accessed December 12, 2024
  6. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  7. ↑ Politico, "What’s breaking up the Texas Republican party? School vouchers," accessed December 10, 2024
  8. ↑ Wall Street Journal, "Children Win the Texas Election Runoffs," accessed December 10, 2024
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