With rural Texas relatively underserved by private schools, the potential for expansion could play a role in the debate over whether to let families use taxpayer money to pay for private education.
school vouchers
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Texas Legislature 2023
Gov. Greg Abbott, House at impasse over school voucher bill as special session winds down
Vouchers are the governor’s top legislative priority. But he has signaled opposition to a proposed House compromise that would tie them to increased funding for public schools.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas House priority bill increases education spending in exchange for creating voucher program
House Bill 1 would make an educational savings account program available to 25,000 Texas students in its first year, with increased participation to follow. The governor’s office indicated that the proposal was lacking.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas’ main voucher bill seeks to avoid other states’ mistakes but keeps ideas that attracted criticism
Like in Texas, voucher programs in other states sparked vigorous debates, came with the same promises and faced similar concerns. Not all predictions came true.
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Politics
Texas Senate unveils its priority school voucher bill
The proposal would give families who exit the state’s public education system access to $8,000 of taxpayer money each year to pay for their children’s private schooling.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Special session on school vouchers begins with Republicans in disarray
Gov. Greg Abbott needs a delicate coalition of Republicans to pass his top priority. But the House and Senate leaders aren’t getting along.
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Graphics and data reporting
Vouchers return this special session — and school funding might be left out. Here’s what you need to know.
Gov. Greg Abbott called lawmakers back to Austin to try again to pass education savings accounts, which would let families use state funds to pay for their children’s private schooling. Teacher pay was not part of his agenda.
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Politics
Texas House committee report outlines possible path forward for school vouchers
The House blocked school vouchers during this year’s regular lawmaking session, but a report released Friday shows some members might be willing to approve a scaled-back version of the program that doesn’t compete with public schools for funds.
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Public Education
With no new funding from the state, Texas schools are breaking the bank to pay for teacher raises
Lawmakers this year didn’t approve extra money to help schools pay for raises despite having an unprecedented $32 billion surplus — even after Gov. Greg Abbott commissioned a task force last year to improve teacher pay and retention.
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2023 Session Recap
No teacher raises. A failed school voucher push. Armed guards. Here’s what changed for public education this legislative session.
Lawmakers sacrificed school funding to block school vouchers, but the issue could be debated again in a special session. Districts will get new funds for school safety, though Uvalde families were ultimately left disappointed with inaction on gun restrictions.
