The Texas legislature is prepared to make history by approving “school vouchers,” increasing per-student funding, giving teacher pay raises and strengthening special education.
The two bills, Senate Bill 2 (SB 2) and House Bill 2 (HB 2), will reshape the state’s public education system.
What is Senate Bill 2?
SB 2, a $1 billion private school voucher program, establishes a state-funded education savings account (ESA) program to provide eligible Texas families with a $10,000 voucher per eligible student to pay toward private education expenses and $11,500 a year for students with disabilities.
Since 1957, school vouchers have been on the legislative agenda, but they will soon become law after the House approved the bill 86-61, with every Democrat representative and two Republicans voting against it.
U.S. President Donald Trump hailed the move as a “gigantic victory” for Texas’s students and parents.
“Congratulations to my friends, Governor Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, and Speaker Dustin Burrows, along with Texas Legislators, for finally passing SCHOOL CHOICE, which I strongly endorsed,” Trump wrote. “We will very soon be sending Education BACK TO ALL THE STATES, where it belongs. It is our goal to bring Education in the United States to the highest level, one that it has never attained before. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Gov. Abbott applauded legislators Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Speaker Dustin Burrows, State Sen. Brandon Creighton and State Rep. Brad Buckley for spearheading the bill.
“For the first time in Texas history, our state has passed a universal school choice bill out of both chambers in the Texas Legislature,” Abbott said. “When it reaches my desk, I will swiftly sign this bill into law, creating the largest day-one school choice program in the nation and putting Texas on a pathway to becoming the best state in America for educating our kids.”
“We won’t take a single penny from our public schools to pay for school choice,” he stated earlier.
Democrats, however, expressed fierce opposition to the measure and filed amendments that were dismissed, warning Texans that it would divert public funds to subsidize private schooling.
“We just need to ward off that voucher bill. We need to save the public schools,” State Rep. Alma Allen told the Defender before the bill passed the House. “The focus for the Republicans is to tear it down, to keep kids from being educated…my fight right now is to kill that voucher bill.”
Allen clarified that the bill, marketed by voucher proponents as a $10,000 credit, will not cover the full tuition costs at private schools, leaving low-income families opting for it burdened by out-of-pocket expenses.
“If you’re in a 12-foot hole and someone hands you a 10-foot rope, that’s not much of a choice,” said State Rep. Harold Dutton Jr.
What is House Bill 2?
HB 2 comprises a massive $7.7 billion public school investment, which would increase per-student funding and teacher salaries. The bill will now head to the Senate for further consideration.
House lawmakers gave final approval with a bipartisan 142-5 vote.
HB 2 would raise the base amount school districts receive per student, known as the “basic allotment,” by $395, resulting in an increase from $6,160 to $6,555, tied to local property value growth every two years.
“Members, you have an opportunity today to cast a vote for the largest investment in public education in the history of our state and so we will continue this process as this body returns session after session to make sure the resources are there for our schools,” said Republican State Rep. Brad Buckley, who authored the bill.
“My interpretation of this bill, even linked with other bills, would not catch us up to those 2019 funding levels,” said Democratic State Rep. James Talarico, who posed pressing questions to Buckley about whether the new investments would be sufficient to fix systemic issues.
HB 2 would also shift the special education funding model from a one-size-fits-all approach to a needs-based system, helping schools receive funding tailored to individual student requirements.
Another major component of the bill is teacher compensation.
Of the new per-student funding, 40% would go to salaries for school staff, with veteran teachers seeing the highest raises. Raises range between $3,500 and $7,000. HB 2 also limits the use of uncertified teachers in core subjects.
Basic allotment has not increased since 2019, with leaders advocating for years.
Unfinished business
Both HB 2 and SB 2 must now clear final votes, which are typically procedural, before heading to the Senate.
HB 2 and SB 2 represent a major shift in Texas’s education system, increasing state investment in public schools on one hand and simultaneously opening the door to taxpayer-funded private education on the other. As the Legislature moves to finalize these bills, the stakes are clear—the future of Texas education, public and private, is being rewritten in real time.
