SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio lawmakers explained how a $1 billion private school voucher program could impact South Texas.
It’s called Senate Bill 2, and on Thursday, the lower chamber signed off on the voucher proposal with an 86-61 vote.
“This bill is the first time since 1957 that the Texas House has approved legislation making state money available for families to use on their children’s private schooling,” the Texas Tribune reported.
Texas State Representatives Diego Bernal (D-San Antonio) and Marc LaHood (R-San Antonio) have different opinions on the private school voucher program.
“The issue with Senate Bill 2 ... it’s budgeted to be $1 billion. And it’s also set to grow to between $5-7 billion in the next four to six years,” Bernal told KSAT on Thursday. “That is $5-7 billion we could be putting into our neighborhood and charter schools.”
According to the Texas Tribune, “the House’s plan would put $1 billion to create education savings account, a form of vouchers that families could use to pay for private school tuition and other school-related expenses, like textbooks, transportation and therapy.”
“I believe we are gonna find that once we implement this, we are going to see growth, better performance, better rewards, better payment, better treatment,” LaHood told KSAT. “I think overall we’re going to see the positive byproduct of it.”
Those opposed to the bill are worried it would take funds away from public education.
“We believe that public money belongs in public schools, not in private schools,” Clay Robison, a Texas State Teacher’s Association spokesperson, told KSAT. “We have no objection to private schools, but we don’t believe they should be taking money from the state.”
“The initial vote for the voucher program came more than 10 hours after the chamber gave preliminary approval to its sweeping $7.7 billion school funding package, which would give local districts more money per student and raise teacher salaries,” according to the Texas Tribune.
"House Bill 2, which received final passage Thursday on a 142-5 vote, also aims to improve the quality of special education services by allocating funding based on the individual needs of children with disabilities," the Texas Tribune reported.
While House Bill 2 will bring additional funds to public schools, democrats argue the funding barely scratches the surface of what districts need to defeat the growing costs of inflation and budget deficits.
“San Antonio districts will gain millions of dollars depending on their size,” Bernal said. “This is money that they have desperately needed. They need it because schools are closing, the teachers need significant pay raises, and the legislature hasn’t touched school finance in about six years."
The voucher and school funding bill will now head to the Senate for further consideration.
“This is an extraordinary victory for the thousands of parents who have advocated for more choices when it comes to the education of their children,” Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement to the Texas Tribune about Senate Bill 2, vowing that he would “swiftly sign this bill into law” when it reaches his desk.
The Texas Tribune contributed to this article.
Read also:
