Texas House poised to remove vouchers from massive education bill

SAN ANTONIO — This story was first published in the Texas Tribune, and can be viewed here.

An amendment filed Friday morning to remove school vouchers from the Texas House’s massive education bill, House Bill 1, has enough support from Republicans to pass — which would effectively gut the bill of its signature provision.

At least a dozen Republicans signed the amendment filed by Rep. John Raney of College Station, including Reps. Glenn Rogers, Ernest Bailes, Justin Holland, Hugh Shine, Stan Lambert, Steve Allison, Drew Darby, Ed Thompson, DeWayne Burns, Charlie Geren and Andrew Murr.

If all 65 Democrats in the chamber support the amendment, only 10 Republican votes would be needed to pass it.

House members convened Friday to discuss the bill and are expected to vote on it later in the day.

A coalition of Democrats and rural Republicans has historically blocked attempts to create a voucher system in Texas, which would allow parents to use tax dollars to send their children to private schools.

That alliance appears to have held, despite efforts by Gov. Greg Abbott and his negotiating team to woo about two dozen Republican holdouts who signaled disapproval of vouchers during the regular legislative session this spring.

HB 1, authored by Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Killeen, is a $7 billion omnibus bill that would also boost spending for public schools. It would increase the basic allotment — the base amount allocated to districts per student — from $6,160 to $6,700 and would be adjusted for inflation starting in the 2026-27 school year. It also includes a one-time $4,000 bonus for full-time teachers, counselors, nurses and librarians.

But its key provision is vouchers. The bill would create education savings accounts, a voucher-like program that would allow about 40,000 students who exit the state’s public education system to either receive $10,500 annually for private school expenses or up to $1,000 for homeschooling. The program would prioritize students from low-income families and those with disabilities, but every child would be eligible for the money as funds allow.

Abbott has said he would veto HB 1 if it does not include vouchers, his top legislative priority this year. The governor has threatened to continue calling lawmakers back to Austin until they pass a bill. Republican opponents of the measure are facing threats of challenges in the upcoming 2024 primaries.

Proponents of the bill argue that school vouchers empower parents to make the best educational decisions for their children. Those against them say the program threatens to take money away from public schools, which are funded based on student attendance. Voucher opponents argue that this money would be better spent in already underfunded public schools, which have been struggling with rising inflation and enrollment declines. While many public school advocates and officials would welcome the additional funding included in the bill, some lawmakers have made it clear that they will not pass HB 1 with an education savings account provision.

The Senate has passed school voucher bills multiple times this year and in previous years. But the coalition of Democratic and rural Republican opponents has always blocked it from advancing in the House.

HB 1 passed a House committee on Nov. 10 and its initial approval marked the furthest a school voucher program has reached in the Texas House in recent history. In fact, it’s possible a school voucher bill has never made it to a floor vote in the House, according to legislative records — though an exact determination is difficult given that the Legislature has considered different forms of school voucher programs since the 1950s.

The bill passing the House committee marked a slight victory for Abbott and pro-voucher advocates, who have been negotiating with House members since the regular Legislative session this past spring. But while the House committee passed the bill this time, with the help of several votes in favor from rural Republicans, the measure’s hopes in the full chamber always remained very uncertain.

Rep. Gary VanDeaver, R-New Boston, represents a swath of rural communities in House District 1 and is one of several rural Republicans who have stood against school vouchers. He voted in favor of the bill in committee.

“I do believe that the House needs to have this discussion,” he said. “We need to debate this bill. We need to debate this issue, and then let the House vote.”

But while VanDeaver believes the full House should have the final say, he said he won’t support the bill in its current form even if Abbott keeps threatening with special sessions and mounting primary challenges in districts that dissent.

“I’m just philosophically not in favor of vouchers primarily because of the district I represent,” VanDeaver said.

Similarly, Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, voted in favor of passing the bill onto the full House even though he is against vouchers.

“Republicans say unless you’re for vouchers, you can’t be Republican. … I don’t believe that the people of House District 88 want [vouchers] because there’s no chance in hell any voucher helps one student in House District 88,” King said during the committee meeting on Nov. 9.

Before starting the debate on HB 1 Friday, lawmakers passed two major pieces of school safety legislation that would give Texas public schools $1.3 billion more to fund new safety measures. Though the Legislature passed several sweeping school safety mandates earlier this year, school officials have complained that lawmakers did not allot enough funding for schools to actually implement the new requirements.

House Bill 2, which establishes two school safety grant programs, passed with a vote of 145-2, with Democratic Reps. Nicole Collier from Fort Worth and Carl Sherman from DeSoto voting against. Lawmakers approved an amendment proposed by Rep. Erin Zwiener, D-Driftwood, that allows school safety funds to pay for schools to run a fentanyl awareness program.

They also approved an amendment by Rep. Valoree Swanson, R-Spring, that requires schools to obtain written consent from a child’s parents before conducting any psychological exam or treatment of a student using HB 2 funds.

House Joint Resolution 1, which proposes a constitutional amendment that will go before voters next May, creates a new school safety fund to support the grant programs in HB 2.

HJR 1 passed with a vote of 144-3, with Republican Reps. Matt Schaefer from Tyler, Brian Harrison from Midlothian and Briscoe Cain from Deer Park voting no.

Maia Pandey contributed to this story. This story will be updated.

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