Education Savings Accounts were a top focus for Gov. Greg Abbott in the 2023 session and four special sessions. But the voucher-like program failed, as did additional funding for public schools statewide after Abbott vowed to withhold his signature from any education bill that lacked ESAs.
Now, with the next session just weeks away, Abbott is once again making ESAs a top focus of the session — and he’s confident lawmakers will pass a bill that’ll send public dollars to private schools.
“We are ensuring,” Abbott said at a recent visit to the private, religious Kingdom Life Academy in Tyler, “that students who may have fallen through the cracks in their public school, they're going to have a new chance, a new opportunity to be able to, to learn, to achieve, to succeed.”
With assurances he’ll soon get some kind of voucher plan, Abbott is also again backing teacher pay hikes as he did last session — and districts around the state are desperate for funding.
After opposing vouchers last session, Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde said that fight is over.
“The primary thing we are focused on right now this session [is] different from last session,” she said. "Some people will criticize us for it, but I'm not going to relive Groundhog Day.”
She admits it’s a lesson learned the hard way after the last legislative session. Elizalde said her district — the second-largest in the state — is facing a $186 million shortfall.
“I certainly hope that as leaders of learning organizations, we're learners first,” she said. “And we learned that right now our priority must be getting school funding.”
Small, rural districts are largely saying the same, especially with several new Abbott-backed legislators in office who say they’ll approve some voucher plan.
Randy Willis, who leads the Texas Association of Rural Schools, said teacher pay is a priority for his several hundred members, whose teachers make $35,000 or $36,000 a year. He said urban educators earn at least $20,000 more.
“I don't know how many teachers that want to come out of school with a four-year degree and go to rural Texas and make less than $3,000 [a month],” said Willis.
School boards themselves are weighing in too, from Highland Park to Dallas ISD. Their legislative priorities — from higher basic allotments to funding for teacher raises — also include demands for accountability for whatever public dollars are sent to private schools.
“I can’t speak for everyone but I think that many of us are still opposed to vouchers,” Dallas school board member Dan Micciche said at a recent meeting. “Many of us see that vouchers are becoming a more likely possibility than they had been in the past.”
He said the district needs to “send a message” that private and home schools that receive taxpayer money through ESAs need to be held to the same accountability requirements as public schools, including STAAR testing.
“Any school or educational entity that receives public funds should be held to the same accountability standards for student outcomes, fiscal performance, open records & meetings act, and student services,” he said.
Bill Tarleton, head of the 400-member Texas Rural Education Association, said his group does not oppose what he calls “school choice with public dollars,” as long as everybody’s rules are the same.
“By that I mean special-ed students, students with disciplinary issues,” he said. “You know, we take anybody and everybody as well we should. And we do feel that that's only appropriate for all entities that take public dollars.”
It’s not clear if any accountability measure will end up in an ESA bill. Linda Colangelo, who heads the Texas Private Schools coalition, told KERA in a statement that “private schools may elect to participate in the ESA program or may choose not to, depending on the details of the bill.”
Texas House Public Education Committee chair Rep. Brad Buckley, a Republican, authored last year’s education bill and says any ESA program will prioritize families with special needs children, but ultimately serve any parent who chooses a private school, whatever the reason.
He heard hours of pro and con comments last session regarding school funding and ESAs.
"This is not an either-or decision,” Buckley told a Dallas Regional Chamber audience recently. “This is not ‘you support public education or you don't."
Buckley said parents need every tool in the toolbox for their kids.
“Most parents will tell me this,” he told the crowd. “I love my public school. But this kid - Billy over here - has this issue. I feel like he's fallen behind. I wish I had an option for him.”
As for what an ESA bill will look like — and how much funding and accountability measures will be included — Tarleton’s just not sure.
“You know I don't know what to expect. I really don't,” he said. “After the last general session and what, four special sessions? Those were things that turned us on our heads or turned us upside down.
“It's kind of hard to say what we can expect after last year.”
Bill Zeeble is KERA’s education reporter. Got a tip? Email Bill at bzeeble@kera.org. You can follow him on X @bzeeble.
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