Texas Senate committee revamps school funding bill to revive voucher-like program
A Senate committee on Monday morning will consider a new version of a House bill that would infuse school districts with billions of dollars, but also establish a voucher-like program in an effort to avoid a special session.
The Texas Tribune reviewed a summary of the new bill as the full proposal was not yet available.
The Senate Committee on Education chaired by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, will hear testimony for House Bill 100, authored by Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, at 8 a.m. The bill originally intended to allocate $4.5 billion in new funding for schools to give teachers raises and balance school budgets as inflation diminished the value of the money they get from the state.
Now, the bill would also establish an education savings account program, which would give parents who opt out of the public school system up to $8,000 in taxpayer money per student each year. These funds could be used to pay for a child’s private schooling and other educational expenses, such as textbooks or tutoring.
The program would be open to most of Texas’ 5.5 million students — including those already in private schools — with a priority given to students that attended a school that received a C or lower in the state’s accountability program.
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/21/senate-voucher-plan/
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