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Texas lawmakers will return to Austin on Monday for their second attempt this year to pass a statewide school voucher program, but whether they’ll seek to give schools additional funding — the other big education issue left pending during this year’s regular session — is up in the air.
Gov. Greg Abbott called for a special lawmaking session last month and said Thursday one of its focuses will be education savings accounts — a voucher-like program that would give families state money to pay for their children’s private schooling.
Abbott stated that by empowering parents to choose the best education option for their child, we will collectively pave the way for a brighter future for all Texas children.
Despite the pressing issue of teacher shortages and the desperate need for increased funding in public schools, Abbott’s agenda failed to address these concerns. His priorities, such as immigration and COVID-19 restrictions, took precedence, leaving cash-strapped schools without the much-needed support. In May, lawmakers were on the verge of passing legislation that would have injected billions of dollars into school funding and provided salary raises for teachers. Unfortunately, negotiations over vouchers led to the delay of this crucial initiative.
While lawmakers have the freedom to propose legislation in those domains, critics argue that Abbott’s agenda is narrowly defined, potentially preventing any new public school funding from being considered. According to the state constitution, legislators can only pass bills pertaining to the governor’s agenda items during special sessions.
Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University, stated that the Legislature would be unable to pass any legislation impacting public school funding unless Governor Abbott includes it on the special session call in the future.
Proponents of vouchers have been striving for a while to implement a similar initiative in the state. They argue that numerous families in Texas may consider opting out of the public education system due to their dissatisfaction with how schools handled the pandemic and their concerns regarding the teaching of race, history, and sex. However, opponents contend that vouchers would divert funds from underprivileged public schools, exacerbating their existing challenges.
Reaching a compromise in the Legislature may prove to be difficult once again as Democrats and rural Republicans in the House have historically opposed any form of vouchers. They successfully blocked a voucher program during this year’s regular session, but at the cost of not passing the measure to provide additional funding for schools to pay for teacher raises and combat rising costs due to inflation.
In the end, many school districts have paid the price. Many school officials have had to adopt deficit budgets, meaning their expenditures outweigh their revenues. Some school districts have dipped into their savings to offer teachers minimal raises, balance their budgets or simply keep the lights on. Others are considering closing some of their campuses altogether to save money.
Even if lawmakers pursue new funding for schools and teachers during the special session, passage would likely depend on a compromise on school vouchers — a tall order considering the widening political gulf between the House and Senate, which has been more supportive of vouchers.
“We need to start off with the reality that school choice was already rejected multiple times by the Texas House,” Jones said. “Now, any desire that the House might have had to work with the Senate and the governor was obliterated with the acquittal of Attorney General [Ken] Paxton.”
In May, Paxton was impeached by the House. However, after being acquitted by the Senate, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick openly expressed his disapproval of the House’s handling of the case.
Nevertheless, some believe lawmakers will pass both public school funding and a school voucher program this special session amid increasing political pressure. Abbott has been adamant about a voucher-like program known as education savings accounts, threatening to call for more special sessions if lawmakers fail again to pass a bill he likes and promising political consequences for those who get in the way.
Mandy Drogin, campaign director of an education initiative for the conservative think tank Texas Public Policy Foundation, mentioned that education savings accounts and teacher pay are looming in the near future.
This special session in Texas education holds significant implications. Here’s everything you should be aware of.
School vouchers
A voucher or “school choice” program refers to a government mechanism that enables parents to utilize taxpayer funds for enrolling their children in private schools.
The primary proposal this year, which Abbott supports, is the establishment of education savings accounts. These accounts serve as state-managed bank accounts for parents who choose to withdraw their children from public education.
Parents would have access to taxpayer funds through these accounts, which can be used to cover educational expenses such as private school tuition, homeschooling materials, online schooling, or hiring private tutors.
Many Texans are in favor of vouchers according to recent polls, yet there is still considerable uncertainty surrounding their functionality.
A recent UT/TXP poll showed that 61% of rural respondents expressed support for establishing a voucher program, but that number dropped to 43% when asked if they would support redirecting state tax revenue to private school tuition.
The main aim of the poll was to demonstrate the influence of question wording on individuals’ support for school vouchers.
In the past few years, there has been a significant surge in support for vouchers. Based on a campaign contribution analysis conducted by the Texas Tribune, the Texas Federation for Children, a political action committee (PAC) advocating for school vouchers, has allocated approximately $1.3 million to back candidates in favor of vouchers and over $600,000 to oppose those who are against them, since June 2020.
The leading education savings account proposal during the regular session was Senate Bill 8, authored by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe. It would have given families access to up to $8,000 in taxpayer money per student each year for private schooling and other educational expenses. The program would’ve given priority access to low-income families and received $500 million over the next two years.
One major criticism voiced by opponents was the absence of a mechanism in the bill to ensure that private schools, which receive state funds, are held to the same academic standards as public schools.
According to Creighton, the ultimate means of holding private schools accountable is granting parents the power to withdraw their children if they are dissatisfied. Additionally, his proposed bill mandates regular audits by the state comptroller’s office to identify any misuse of state funds by program participants.
But Creighton’s bill failed after the House tried to limit its scope. SB 8 called for a voucher program that would’ve been accessible to most Texas students; the House countered with a program that would’ve been limited to certain groups of students, like those with disabilities or who are attending failing schools. The new bill never got a vote in the House after Abbott threatened to veto the bill if lawmakers didn’t expand its reach.
In a last-ditch effort to pass a voucher program, Creighton attached his broader proposal to House Bill 100, the only school finance bill that advanced during the regular session and would have given aid to schools to pay for teacher raises and combat inflation. The change meant House members would have to greenlight a voucher program in order to approve additional school funding; the lower chamber ultimately decided to say no to both.
It remains uncertain how lawmakers’ stances on school vouchers have evolved since the regular session, and whether the ongoing special session will conclude with a compromise or yet another stalemate.
During a Texas Tribune event in Austin last month, Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, showed he remained firmly against vouchers, and Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls, was firmly supportive. Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, D-San Antonio, showed more willingness to find an agreement, saying neither party must be set in their ways for things to get done.
“It is an undeniable fact that our majority party and state leadership are in favor of vouchers,” stated Gervin-Hawkins. “Rather than engaging in endless and fruitless battles to determine the winners, we must consider the real losers in this situation – our hardworking teachers struggling to make ends meet and our children who are being deprived of their essential needs.”
Public school finance and teacher raises
A House committee report on public education released in August shows that lawmakers in the lower chamber wanted public education funding and teacher raises to be a priority during the special session.
Texas ranks 28th in the nation for teacher pay, which is $7,652 less than the national average, according to the latest National Education Association report. A Tribune analysis shows that Texas teacher salaries have stagnated over the last decade.
Lawmakers were urged by public school advocates during the regular session to increase the basic allotment, which is the fundamental amount of money allocated per student in schools. They also called for a revamp of the state’s school funding formula to consider inflation and emphasized the importance of making substantial investments in teacher salaries.
The primary suggestion for teacher salary increments was the ill-fated HB 100, aiming to offer a moderate boost to the fundamental allocation and revise the teacher salary schedule. This schedule establishes the minimum compensation that teachers should receive based on their years of service.
Additionally, the bill proposed alterations to the fundamental metric employed in determining the amount of funding allocated to public schools by the state.
In Texas, when a student is absent from school, it not only affects the attendance average of their district but also reduces the funding they receive. As we navigate the post-COVID-19 era, where parents are more cautious about sending their sick children to school, the financial stability of certain districts has become increasingly uncertain.
In order to enhance budget planning and stability, schools have contended that tying school funding to average student enrollment would be more advantageous. HB 100, in certain instances, aimed to replace attendance with enrollment in the formula for school funding.
Lawmakers have remained silent on the nature of school funding proposals they may bring forth during the special session.
Teacher preparation
In recent years, Texas schools have been grappling with a shortage of teachers. Factors such as inadequate compensation, excessive work hours, concerns about health during the pandemic, and being embroiled in Texas’ cultural conflicts have resulted in a greater number of teachers abandoning their profession.
According to the Texas Education Agency, filling teacher vacancies in the state has become a challenging task. Moreover, retaining teachers has become increasingly problematic, resulting in schools having to refill positions on an annual basis.
In response, Abbott formed a task force more than a year ago to find ways to fix the shortage. The group met for nearly a year and recommended that lawmakers increase salaries, pass programs to improve teacher preparation and commit to helping teachers spend less time working during their off hours. Those measures would make the profession more lucrative and keep educators from leaving, the task force said.
One proposal that both chambers agreed on to give teachers some relief was House Bill 1605, which went into effect Sept 1. It allocates nearly $800 million to produce open-source, high-quality instructional materials for teachers in an effort to save them some planning time. The bill also includes provisions that give parents more access to the materials teachers use to instruct their children.
But other proposals in response to the task force’s recommendations didn’t pass during the regular session. Both the House and the Senate pitched bills that would have provided some teacher raises, allocated funds for training and mentorship programs, and mandated the TEA to conduct a “time study” to take a deeper look at the reasons why teachers are spending so much time completing tasks outside their work hours. But these also died amid the school voucher debate.
Lawmakers might try to address teachers’ grievances again during the special session. Creighton has previously said teacher preparation is a topic he intends to revisit.
Disclosure: Rice University and Texas Public Policy Foundation have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
