Ah, school vouchers. They’re like a coupon for 30% off, but only if the discount is covered by swiping your neighbor’s wallet. Texas is back at it again, folks. Last month, our state senate passed Senate Bill 2, which proposes giving families $10,000 in public funds per year, per student, through what Gov. Greg Abbott calls “education savings accounts.” These funds can be used toward private school tuition, textbooks, transportation — basically anything except improving public schools.
If this all sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve seen this movie before. In 2023, during the 88th legislative session, a similar bill got torpedoed by a bipartisan coalition in the House. But Abbott, like a dog with a bone (or maybe a billionaire-funded steak), wasn’t ready to give up. He vowed revenge on House Republicans who opposed his voucher dream, supporting their opponents in the 2024 primaries. And it worked! Many of his foes were ousted, paving the way for the bill to pass this year. That’s democracy in action, folks — if at first you don’t succeed, buy a new legislature.
The math behind this plan is simple. The median private middle school tuition in Texas is more than $30,000 per year (and for private high school, it’s more than $35,000), according to the Education Data Initiative, but the state will only give you $10,000. It’s kind of like if your boss gave you a $25 gift card to a restaurant where the cheapest entrée is $75. Sure, it’s a start, but you’re still going to end up paying for it. And this is only the median tuition — many private schools cost way more. The bill offers a little extra for students with disabilities, but for everyone else, it’s like handing out life vests in a flood where only the second floor is underwater.
Critics of the bill say it’s less about helping low-income families and more about helping middle- and upper-class families who are already sending their kids to private schools. (Do you mean to say that Texas is only looking out for the wealthy? Perish the thought!)
In fact, in other states with similar programs, more than 75% of students receiving vouchers were already enrolled in private schools or were homeschooled, per a study from Reaching Higher New Hampshire.
Oh and a 2024 report from a non-partisan think tank in Arizona estimates “that 82% of universal ESA recipients never attended a district or charter school.”
So, basically, this is less of a lifeline and more of a pat on the back for families who could already afford private school.
Sen. Nathan Johnson from Dallas put it bluntly: “What [SB 2] does is redistribute wealth and then moves money into private schools, 75% of which in Texas are religiously affiliated,” he said in a post on X. That’s right, public money funding private religious schools — because nothing says “separation of church and state” quite like sending your tax dollars straight to Our Lady of the Perpetual Screw Public Education.
But let’s not forget the real kicker: 158 of Texas’s 254 counties don’t even have a private school. For those families, a $10,000 voucher is as useful as a gift card to Blockbuster. Where are these rural kids supposed to go … Hogwarts? Because that’s about as real an option as any.
To be fair, there is one genre of lower-cost private school that vouchers would pay for. That would be Catholic schools (and not surprisingly, the church fully supports this scheme).
Oh and not that it matters, but vouchers are deeply unpopular across the political spectrum. About two-thirds of likely midterm voters in Texas oppose vouchers, according to a survey from the labor advocacy group Unified Texas. That includes 95% of Democrats, 72% of independents, and even 42% of Republicans, according to the group.
That hasn’t stopped supporters like Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick from sticking their fingers in their collective ears and saying, “Nuh-UH!”
Supporters of giving rich people more cash for yachts say vouchers will help all families.
“My intent is to provide families with the opportunity to choose the best possible educational setting for their child,” said state Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Salado, the House author of a voucher bill and chair of the House Public Education Committee, per the Texas Tribune.
Ok but in the real world, what we’re likely to see is public schools in rural areas and small towns — where vouchers are worth bupkis — struggling even more as funds are siphoned away.
Anyway, the voucher people are probably going to win this time. President Donald Trump and his supervisor Elon Musk are pressuring Texas politicians to get vouchers done. And new House Speaker Dustin Burrows, told the Austin American-Statesman recently that he expects the bill to be successful. Rich peoples’ causes always seem to find a way!
In the end, the biggest winners here are the wealthy private schools, and anyone running for office who needs a campaign contribution from a pro-voucher PAC.
As for everyone else, well, you get a voucher.
But fair warning: Nothing in life is ever free.