The overview
House Bill 3 would create state-run education savings accounts, which families could use to pay for private school tuition and other educational expenses, such as textbooks or transportation. Most participating students would receive about $10,000 per year, or 85% of the per-student funding public schools receive from state and local sources, according to the bill.
During the 2022-23 school year, the average Texas public school received $12,815 per student in state and local funds, according to Texas Education Agency data.
Students with disabilities would receive up to $30,000 under HB 3, as special education services are typically more expensive to provide, bill author Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Salado, told members of the House Public Education Committee March 11. Families who homeschool their children would receive up to $2,000 annually.
The bill would prioritize applications from students with special needs and families with annual incomes at or below 200% of the federal poverty line—about $64,000 per year for a family of four, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. However, any Texas family would be eligible to apply for the program, regardless of income.
“My intent is to provide families with the opportunity to choose the best possible educational setting for their child,” Buckley said during the March 11 hearing. “I believe HB 3 provides this choice while prioritizing Texas’ most high-needs and vulnerable students.”
The hearing, which began at 8 a.m. March 11, lasted over 20 hours. The committee took a brief break for a House floor session, then worked through the night and adjourned around 6:30 a.m. March 12.
The debate
During the hearing, proponents of education savings accounts argued the program would provide options for families who want to send their children to private schools but cannot afford to do so. Opponents said ESAs would divert funding from public schools, some of which face growing budget shortfalls.
“We can do both,” Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, said March 11. “We can be friends and advocates, proudly so, of our public schools and also support the right and the choice and the freedom of Texas families to direct their kids’ education.”
Rep. James Talarico, an Austin Democrat who has been outspoken against education savings accounts, said he was concerned the program would not meet the needs of all Texas students.
“A majority of counties in the state of Texas don't have a single private school in them... or the private school doesn't provide transportation or special education programs, or the voucher doesn't cover the full cost of tuition,” Talarico said March 11. “I'm worried that who we're saying is prioritized is actually not going to get enrolled [and] is actually not going to get the money.”
During the 2023-24 school year, the average cost of Texas private school tuition was $10,965 for kindergarten through eighth grade students and $14,986 for high school students, according to the Texas Private Schools Association.
Talarico said House lawmakers should consider capping enrollment in the ESA program based on income.
“Do you think our taxpayer dollars should go to a family making over $500,000 a year, who are already sending their kids to private school? That’s the question,” Talarico said in a discussion with Buckley. “Not a low-income family—we could have that conversation. Not even a working-class, middle-class family—we could have that conversation. But your bill allows for literally millionaires to take money that could go to public schools to subsidize their private school tuition.”
Buckley said every parent, regardless of how much money they make, should be able to decide where their children go to school.
“I know the private schools in my district, I know the kids that go there,” Buckley said. “Many families are struggling and foregoing vacations, college savings, savings for retirement, to do things to make sure their kids are in the best environment.”
Zooming in
Angelina Tamez, a South Texas resident, testified around midnight March 12 that education savings accounts would be “a game-changer for Hispanic families.”
Tamez said her mother wanted to send her to a local private school, but could not afford to do so.
“Our parents make numerous sacrifices to give us the American dream, yet so often, the public school system fails to meet us there. ... In a community where poverty is high and test scores are low, school choice would allow us the opportunity of the American dream, a fighting chance and a future where our zip code no longer dictates our destiny,” Tamez told committee members.
Brenda Howard, the president of Salado Area Republican Women, said her son was struggling in an Arizona public school and benefitted from the state’s “school choice program.” Arizona has an ESA program, which launched in 2011, and several tax credit scholarships.
“I was so grateful that Arizona offered school choice,” Howard testified. “I know that it works. I know that public schools do not die, and I know that it saved my son. It is past time for the great state of Texas to set up and offer options that will empower parents and students.”
Some Texas educators disagreed, arguing that education savings accounts would not benefit most students.
“Public schools educate over 5 million students in our state, and yet we are grossly and perpetually underfunded,” Traci Dunlap, a teacher for Austin ISD said. “But here we sit spending yet another legislative session focused on siphoning money away from our public schools and the vast majority of Texas students who attend them.”
In a fiscal note released March 11, the nonpartisan Texas Legislative Budget Board noted public schools “may experience a decrease in [funding] as a result of the bill due to students leaving public schools to participate in the ESA program.” Texas funds its public schools based on student attendance.
Public education advocates also discussed their concerns about the impact on students with disabilities. Under HB 3, private schools would not be required to admit all students or comply with federal laws that ensure public schools provide services tailored to students’ needs.
AISD teacher Tania Tasneem told the committee about a student she worked with who was in foster care and required special education services. Tasneem said she did not think the student would have benefited from an ESA.
“Foster youth with disabilities don't have the luxury of school choice,” she said March 11. “They rely on the wraparound services our public schools provide: mental health support, special education interventions, transportation, meals and a team of educators fighting for their success.”
What’s next
HB 3 was left pending in the committee March 12. If advanced by committee members during a future hearing, Buckley’s proposal would head to the House floor. House lawmakers have until May 12 to pass legislation out of committees, according to the Legislative Reference Library.
Similar measures have stalled in the lower chamber in recent years, with a coalition of House Democrats and Republicans from rural areas blocking an education savings account proposal in 2023. Seventy-five House Republicans have signed onto HB 3 as co-authors, indicating the bill may have the majority support needed to pass the 150-member House this year.
The Texas Senate approved a separate education savings account proposal, Senate Bill 2, Feb. 5. The $1 billion plan would give most families $10,000 annually, with $11,500 for students with disabilities.
