The Texas Senate voted on Thursday to send legislation creating a statewide private school voucher program to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk to be signed into law, all but concluding a battle that has dominated state politics for much of the last two years.
“Thanks to the dedication of our lawmakers, Texas families will soon have education freedom!” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement.
Abbott has already said that he plans to sign Senate Bill 2, a $1 billion proposal allowing families to use taxpayer dollars to fund their children’s private school education. Similar legislation has historically run into opposition from Democrats and rural Republicans. But that changed last week, when the Texas House gave its stamp of approval to SB 2, a vote that included support from Republicans who opposed similar legislation in 2023.
Upon Abbott’s signature, the program will officially launch at the start of the 2026-27 school year.
“Today is a day I have worked toward for more than a decade since I was Senate Education Chair in 2013, and it is a great day for Texas students and parents,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a statement. “Parents should be able to place students in the educational environment that works best for them.”
SB 2 would initially put $1 billion over a two-year period in taxpayer dollars toward education savings accounts that families could use for private school tuition and other school-related expenses, like textbooks, transportation and therapy.
Most families participating in the voucher program would receive an amount equal to 85% of what public schools get for each student through state and local funding — roughly somewhere between $10,300 and $10,900 per year for each child, according to a recent legislative budget analysis.
Children with disabilities would be eligible for the same funding as other students, plus up to $30,000 in additional money, an amount based on what the state would regularly spend on special education services for that student in a public school. Homeschoolers could receive up to $2,000 per year.
Almost any school-age child eligible to attend a public school — including those already enrolled in a private school — could participate in the program. Only U.S. citizens or people lawfully in the country could receive funding under the initiative.
The proposal would limit the state to spend no more than $1 billion on the program during the first biennium. If public demand exceeds the funding available, the bill would give priority eligibility to students with disabilities and families it considers low income. The measure would also prioritize students who exit public schools over those already enrolled in private schools.
Unlike public schools, which are generally required by law to educate every child in their community who seeks admission, the bill would not require private schools to accept certain students who do not meet their admissions standards.
SB 2 also does not require that participants take the same state standardized tests administered to public school students each year — the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR. Some voucher critics and school officials have said that distinction creates an unfair playing field because the state often uses those exams to judge the effectiveness of districts and educators.
The voucher bill does require that participating students take a nationally recognized exam. It also mandates an annual report from the state that would include data on participating children’s demographics, testing results, and preparedness for college, career and the military.
Three academics in 2017 wrote in the Journal of Economic Literature that some evidence suggests that as competition from voucher programs increases, test scores in public schools slightly improve. But, they said, more research was needed to fully understand the programs’ impact. Voucher advocates often note that the benefits of the programs are best measured through parental satisfaction.
Written by Jaden Edison. This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/24/texas-legislature-passes-vouchers-abbott/.
