Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced earlier this week that House Bill 3, which would establish a universal school choice program, now has majority support. In addition, the Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 2, allocating a billion dollars for education savings accounts to help families who want to send their children to private schools.

Cato Scholar Colleen Hroncich has written about these issues in the past and offers the following statement on the recent developments:

“Texans are known for their can-do, never give up attitude. Fortunately for families, lawmakers who support school choice are bringing that attitude with them to the state capitol. Earlier this month, the Texas Senate passed education savings account legislation that would let funding follow students to a variety of educational options instead of being locked into their assigned district school. The House is now considering a similar, although not identical, ESA bill.

There are currently ESAs on the books in 17 states, although not all have launched yet. Florida and Arizona, which have robust and long-standing programs, have amazing education ecosystems with diverse microschools that educate small groups of students, typically in multi-age classrooms; hybrid schools where kids meet in person some days and work at home some days; and homeschool programs that offer a la carte options for core academics and enrichment.

While Texas is a bit late to the party, the current proposals would jump the state to near the front of the pack in terms of size. This is fitting given the size and independent nature of the Lone Star State.”

If you would like to speak with Colleen about this, please reach out to mmiller@​cato.​org.