Vouchers

This semester marks one year since the state’s private school voucher program launched with a $1 billion budget. And this week, West Texans appeared before the Texas Senate committee on education to talk the impact. Our Brad Burt reports on Levelland ISD and Lubbock ISD.

Roughly 30% of voucher recipients previously attended public schools. When those students leave their districts for private or home school options they take with them thousands in state funding.

Texas public school districts could lose nearly $300 million in state funding to the voucher program, according to a report from watchdog groups Our Schools Our Democracy and Every Texan. Monday is the last day to register to vote for the November 3 election. Our Riley Wilson reports you can check your status at VoteTexas.gov. You can register or update your information in person at the Lubbock County Elections Office at 1308 Crickets Ave, Lubbock, TX 79401 or by mail to the office at 1308 Crickets Avenue, P.O. Box 10536, Lubbock, TX 79408.

Texas Comptroller Don Huffines has requested legislators double the money behind the state’s private school voucher program to $2 billion. More than 100,000 students sit on the waitlist, but critics argue there is little evidence vouchers are delivering on their promises to justify expanding the program.

The state has released its first in-depth look at who is signing up for the state's new billion-dollar initiative.

More than 95,000 Texas families found out that they would receive the school vouchers they applied for in the first round of funding from the $1 billion Education Savings Account program.

Families have until July 15 to opt in to the education savings accounts, or ESAs, which launches next school year.

The Texas Comptroller's Office announced the first round of Texas Education Freedom Accounts awards this week, totalling more than 42,000 students in the first wave. The comptroller's office reports that about two-thirds of awarded students have a documented disability. Texas producers are facing sharp increases in fertilizer costs as a result of escalating conflicts in the Middle East. Texas Public Radio's Norma Martinez explains why the costs are on the rise despite strong domestic production.

Families in the first tier of the lottery -- low- and middle-income students with disabilities -- may be notified as early as next week if they’ve qualified for voucher funds, according to a spokesperson for the program, who says the majority of applicants will end up on a waitlist.

The demographic breakdown of applicants shows Texas' voucher program will likely not reflect the diversity of Texas public school students.