The Chairman of the Texas Senate’s Education Committee filed legislation dubbed the “Texas Education Freedom Act” on Friday to create an Education Savings Account (ESA) program in Texas. The bill, Senate Bill 2 by State Senator Brandon Creighton, is scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Education Committee on January 28.
“School choice is a proven driver of success. Across the nation, it expands opportunities forstudents while resulting in meaningful improvements in public schools. Competition is not a threat to any one school but rather an opportunity to deliver better results for all Texas students. This legislation includes safeguards to ensure Texas avoids the challenges faced by other states while delivering a program tailored to the needs of our families,” Creighton said about his legislation.
“Every child in Texas deserves the chance to succeed, especially those who require specialized learning environments. By passing this legislation, we will break the barriers imposed by zip codes and give all families the tools they need to provide a brighter future for their children. With bold action and decisive leadership, we will finally deliver for the 6 million students in Texas schools.”
The issue of school choice is a priority for Governor Greg Abbott and leaders across the legislative branch. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has described school choice as his “top priority” for the current legislative session. The passage of “universal school choice” was also among the issues included in the Texas Conservative Commitment, a policy agenda signed by more than 40 Republicans in the Texas House, including newly elected Speaker Dustin Burrows.
Initial budget proposals filed in the Texas House and Texas Senate each include $1 billion to fund an educational savings account program.
Under Senate Bill 2, a child participating in the ESA program who is enrolled in a private school will receive $10,000 in their account that can be used to pay for tuition and other eligible educational expenses. That amount is increased to $11,500 if the child has a disability.
Should the number of students who apply for the ESA program exceed the number of spots available, 80% of the spots will be allocated to students, to be chosen by lottery, who previously attended a public school and are either a member of a low-income household or have a disability. The remaining spots in the ESA program will be filled by lottery.
Prominent school choice advocates in Texas have praised Senate Bill 2.
Mandy Drogin, campaign director for Next Generation Texas at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said, “Senator Creighton’s bill would establish the largest day one ESA program in the nation. Additionally, the universal eligibility would ensure that no children are left out and every single parent will have the opportunity to make educational choices for their children. In doing so, every Texas kid will reap the benefit of a stronger education system—whether public, private, charter, or homeschool.”
James Dickey, Executive Director of the school choice advocacy group Liberty for the Kids, posted a detailed thread on X that addressed concerns raised by some about school choice legislation.
“Providing these additional educational options does not remove the “public free schools”, but is proven to improve the “general diffusion of knowledge”, and based on the indoctrination we’ve seen far too often lately, is much more likely to lead to the “preservation of the liberties and rights of the people,” wrote Dickey, who also addressed concerns about potential government overreach.