The Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, signed Senate Bill 2 on Saturday (May 3rd), officially launching a statewide voucher system, marking the largest school choice program in U.S. history.
Abbott, signing the bill at the Governor’s Mansion, stated, “The era of parents being forced to send their children to government-designated schools is over. Now, parents have the right to choose the school that best fits their children.”
Under the new law, Texas will establish Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), providing approximately $10,000 annually for eligible students to use towards private school tuition, textbooks, transportation, therapy, and other education expenses. Students with special needs, such as those with physical or developmental disabilities, can receive up to $30,000 in funding, while homeschoolers can receive up to $2,000 per year.
The legislation is set to take effect on September 1st of this year and will be implemented starting in the 2026-27 school year. The initial budget is $1 billion, expected to support around 90,000 students. By 2030, the annual budget expenditure is projected to reach $4.5 billion.
Financial management will be overseen by the state comptroller’s office, while eligibility verification and program oversight will be handled by the Texas Education Agency. All participating students must undergo national standardized testing, and private schools will be subject to annual audits to ensure transparency and compliance in education quality and fund usage.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data from the fall of 2023, the total number of K-12 public school students in the U.S. is around 49.5 million. As of the 2023-24 school year, Texas has over 5.5 million K-12 students, the highest among all states in the U.S.
With this legislation, Texas becomes the 16th state in the U.S. to implement a “universal” school choice system, all governed by the Republican Party. This system allows all students, regardless of family income or academic background, to receive public funding to attend private schools or choose other educational options.
The policy has been a subject of controversy in Texas for many years, previously facing opposition from Democrats and some rural Republican lawmakers. To break the deadlock, Abbott actively supported voucher-supporting Republican candidates during the 2024 election cycle, helping them defeat 15 opposing lawmakers in the party primaries and clearing the path for the bill’s success.
Supporters believe that the voucher system gives parents more autonomy in choosing the right educational environment for their children and the opportunity to move them out of underperforming public schools. However, critics are concerned that the system may weaken resources for public schools and potentially subsidize private school education for affluent families.
The Republican Party has long advocated for the “school choice” policy, aiming to enhance education quality through market competition. They criticize the public school system for instilling a liberal ideology and limiting parental control over curriculum content.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump has also expressed strong support for this. In January of this year, he signed an executive order prioritizing federal funding for voucher programs to assist states in expanding subsidies for private and religious schools.
During the “National Day of Prayer” event on May 1st, Trump praised the Texas voucher bill as the “ultimate school choice bill” and reaffirmed his commitment to “return education authority to the states as soon as possible.”
(This article is a compilation of reports from Reuters)