AUSTIN, Texas - On Tuesday, a newly-formed school finance commission will meet for the first time to begin looking at ways to fix what's been deemed a broken system.

Former Texas Supreme Court Justice Scott Brister, the chair of the commission, called it an opportunity "to consider innovative ways to increase the quality and results of public education in Texas, and the fairness and efficiency of the system that finances it."

The meeting coincides with "school choice" week, which is a push to allow public funding to flow to private schools. School voucher advocates hope they'll have seat at the table when it comes to deciding how the state spends its education dollars.

"Children should always have access to a good high-quality public school and have that option. But if it doesn't work for them, they need other options as well," said Emily Sass of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. 

Even with support from Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, voucher legislation has repeatedly failed, but so-called school choice supporters say paying for private schools with public dollars increases competition and can reduce costs.

"In the states that have passed school choice measures, most of them actually have seen savings of some kind because what you see is schools become more efficient with the resources that they're given," Sass said. 

However, public school advocates argue vouchers only subsidize educations for students who would never go to public schools in the first place, and that the state's focus should remain on finding a funding fix for its own schools. 

"I'm really hoping that they go again and try to figure out exactly what we're trying to achieve with our schools, and how much it costs to reach those goals," said Chandra Villanueva of the Center for Public Policy Priorities.

Villanueva said Texas hasn't looked at the price tag for educating its students since the early 1980s.

"Because we're afraid of the cost," Villanueva said. "Once we see the number, we're then going to be responsible for raising that amount of revenue and guaranteeing that all students have access."

The commission was approved by Texas lawmakers during the special legislative session after the legislature became deadlocked over how to fix the state's school finance system. In their latest Texas Supreme Court decision, justices ruled the system constitutional - but barely, giving lawmakers little obligation to act on a fix.

The commission is expected to come up with recommendations for lawmakers by the end of the year.