Educational savings accounts all but a done deal for Texas students

In a historic overnight session at the Texas Capitol, lawmakers in the House approved a bill to create educational savings accounts for Texas students. This has been one of Gov. Greg Abbott's top legislative priorities, and now it's closer than ever to becoming law.

The bill, passed largely along party lines at 2 a.m., would allocate $1 billion in public funds to educational savings accounts, or ESAs.

These accounts would provide families with roughly $10,000 per child each year to use toward private school tuition and other educational expenses.

The final vote tally was 85 to 63, with every Democrat voting against the measure. Two Republicans, Representative Gary VanDeaver of New Boston and former House Speaker Dade Phelan of Beaumont, broke ranks to oppose the bill.

In addition to the voucher proposal, the House approved nearly $8 billion in new funding for public schools to increase per-student spending and boost teacher salaries. However, some education advocates argue the effort is too little, too late.

RELATED:In historic first, Texas House approves private school voucher program after hours-long debate

Dr. Bob Sanborn, president and CEO of the nonprofit Children at Risk, expressed concern that the proposed public school funding doesn't sufficiently support the 65% of Texas students who come from low-income families.

"You have to remember that for two legislative sessions, as the governor has tried to pass this piece of legislation, they've withheld funding from public schools," Sanborn said. "Even after the pandemic, for four years, there's basically been no increase for public schools. To now say we are going to give you money now that we've passed vouchers -- this is money they should've been getting all along."

Sanborn also questioned the effectiveness of the $10,000 ESAs, noting that top-tier private schools in Texas charge upwards of $30,000 per year. Even with state assistance, that's far out of reach for low-income families.

Before reaching Abbott's desk, the House and Senate must still reconcile differences in their respective versions of the bill. Key sticking points include the amount of money awarded per student, the criteria for prioritizing applicants, and provisions for accommodating students with disabilities.

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