AUSTIN, Texas — Texans braved the rain Tuesday to rally outside the Texas State Capitol to support lawmakers passing a so-called “school choice” program. It would give parents the ability to take tax dollars away from public schools to use for private and charter schools. 

“We will not let a little rain dampen our spirits,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in front of a crowd of about 200 people. 

He and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have promised Texans for months that lawmakers will pass a voucher program this legislative session.

“We need to empower parents to be able to fight for their kids to achieve the best result for their kids,” Gov. Abbott said. 

Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, filed a bill to create education savings accounts (ESAs) to disperse up to 8,000 tax dollars per student. Only students who are currently enrolled in public school would be able to receive this money, and those who are entering pre-K or kindergarten. As the bill is written now, students who are already in private school are not eligible to receive the $8,000.

“Senate Bill 8 qualifies every child in public school right now, and that would be one of the most expansive school choice bills passed in America ever,” said Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, who’s a co-author of the bill. 

Hundreds of teachers rallied near the Capitol last week to call on lawmakers to increase their pay by $10,000, institute class-size limits and give every school a mental health care professional. They do not support a voucher program because they say it’ll take money away from public schools. 

But Sen. Creighton said the state has enough money this legislative session to fund both public schools and ESAs. Texas has a nearly $33 billion budget surplus.

“These are separate trunches of state-related dollars, separate from public education,” Sen. Creighton said. “And as we lift up public schools and teachers like never before, we’ll also have other funding initiatives like the education savings account.” 

David DeMatthews, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s College of Education, said he doesn’t think that’s true. 

“That is very problematic that we’re hearing we can fund both, when there has been, systematically, a denial to adequately fund schools in Texas,” DeMatthews said.

According to Raise Your Hand Texas, an organization that supports investment in students, the Lone Star State ranks in the bottom 10 states in per-pupil funding. Texas allocates $4,000 less per student than the national average.

Democrats and rural Republicans, whose regions often lack private schools, have long opposed vouchers.

“I would rather see the state take its one public education system that is working extremely well and fund it, and fund it appropriately,” said Bill Tarleton, the executive director of the Texas Rural Education Association.  

Sen. Creighton included in his bill a carve-out for districts with fewer than 20,000 students. The state would give those public schools $10,000 for each student who leaves for a private school using ESA money, but that only applies for two years after the child leaves.

“I think this is just an attempt to persuade rural Republicans who have not supported vouchers. But it's a really poor attempt, because after a few years go by, the funding is going to disappear,” DeMatthews said. “And so all it is… it's actually an acknowledgment that vouchers take money out of public schools.”

DeMatthews described ESAs as tax breaks for wealthy families to send their kids to private school. He added that private schools don’t have the same requirements to provide services to students with disabilities that public schools do. 

“The proposed voucher right now is only between $8,000-$10,000. Some of the top private schools in the state cost well above that. Plus, parents have to be able to either transport their child themselves to that school every day or pay for transportation. If a child has a disability, they're going to need extra services. So this voucher is not going to cover the tuition, the transportation costs and any sort of special needs supports,” he said. “We've seen this in Arizona. Eighty percent of the parents who use the voucher program in Arizona, that was kind of sold as being for low income families… 80% are wealthy families who already sent their kids to private schools.”

Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a legal opinion determining education savings accounts don't violate the state's constitution. He noted it does not prohibit the Legislature from establishing an ESA program so long as it is not funded by the permanent school fund or available school fund. The first public hearing on Sen. Creighton's bill is scheduled for Wednesday.

And for all the Texans who do support school choice, Gov. Abbott left them with a call to action on Tuesday. 

“You need to call your state representative, your state senator, and let them know that you support school choice in the state of Texas,” he said. 

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