As National School Choice Week kicks off, here's where Texas stands on school vouchers
People show their support as Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaks about his Parental Bill of Rights at the PicaPica Plaza Event Center on the Southside of San Antonio on Monday, May 9, 2022.School choice isn’t a new issue in Texas, but it has taken on new urgency as Gov.
Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have repeatedly said they intend to push harder this year for a policy to spread tax dollars from public schools to private schools or home schools. This week is National School Choice Week, and advocates are pressing for so-called voucher programs in . Arizona last year passed a universal school voucher program, where private schools can receive funds for students transferring from public schools, and now other states including Iowa, Florida and Texas are attempting to follow suit.As the largest Republican-controlled state in the country, Texas is seen by proponents as ripe for voucher policies. Debate over the issue is sure to be heated throughout this year’s legislative session, which goes through May.“School choice” refers to policies that promote alternatives to traditional public schools, such as private schools, home schools and charter schools. Republicans often argue that schools are more effective with less government regulation, and many say that more competition between schools — enabled by parents having more options, or “school choice” — leads to better results.Opposition comes from supporters of the traditional public school system. A majority of students are likely to attend traditional public schools even if there’s a universal voucher program, and those schools would lose funding for every student that transfers to a different kind of school.Last year in Houston, about 45,000 students transferred from the ISD to charter schools, resulting in a loss to the district of at least $276 million. That's counting only the basic allotment received by the districts, excluding special education funding or other allotments. In San Antonio, the two largest school districts are Northside ISD and North East ISD. More than 12,000 Northside students transferred to charter schools in the 2021-2022 school year, as did just under 8,000 from North East ISD. That means Northside lost at least $75 million, while North East lost $50 million, using the same basic allotment figures.Abbott and Patrick have both said they intend to push for a voucher program in this year’s session. In the past, voucher legislation passed the Texas Senate but not the House, where it has been blocked in recent years by a coalition of Democrats and rural Republicans. In rural areas, school districts are often the cultural centers and employ a large portion of people in the community, making rural lawmakers especially sensitive to policies affecting their funding. This time, Patrick said the voucher legislation may be written to only apply to urban areas, as a way to win over more votes. That is a similar path to the one taken by voucher advocates
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