Austin Bureau Correspondent
AUSTIN — State lawmakers are poised to hear testimony Tuesday on the legislative session’s most politically charged issue, a bill that would allow families to use taxpayer dollars to pay for private school education.
The political stakes are high in the Texas House, where the failure to pass a similar proposal in 2023 led Gov. Greg Abbott to target numerous Republican incumbents who voted against it. Abbott now believes he has the votes to pass his top legislative priority after his endorsed candidates defeated many of those incumbents in the 2024 GOP primary.
The House Public Education Committee is the first stop for the House’s version of an education savings account bill that would use $1 billion in taxpayer money for private school education. The hearing begins at 8 a.m.
Supporters say education savings accounts give parents greater control over their child’s education and would enable many to move their children to higher performing private schools they might not be able to afford.
Get the latest politics news from North Texas and beyond.
Or with:
By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Opponents say education savings accounts are the first step in the privatization of public education and are an end run to cut state funding to public schools by reducing enrollment.
Advocacy groups and elected officials on both sides of the issue are planning events surrounding Tuesday’s hearing, including Abbott and House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, who will speak about the bill at an Austin conservative think tank.
The Senate has already passed its version of an education savings account bill. It would give about $10,000 to per student to help pay for private school education. The accounts would be open to all students, but should costs exceed $1 billion, the bill would prioritize special education students, students with disabilities and students with a household income of up to five times the federal poverty level, about $160,750 for a family of four.
The House proposal is also capped at $1 billion and also provides for universal access and similar prioritized access should applications exceed funding. The size of an education savings account in HB 3 is set at 85% of state and local money spent on the average student, which based on 2024 figures from the Texas Education Agency comes to about $10,983.
Both proposals allow for an education savings account to be used on private school tuition, uniforms, textbooks and tutoring.
Philip Jankowski has covered government, politics and criminal justice in Texas for 17 years. He previously worked for the Austin American-Statesman, the Killeen Daily Herald and the Taylor Press. Philip is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.
