It was a moment Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had been waiting years for. Flanked by supporters, the state’s top Republican signed Senate Bill 2 into law Saturday afternoon at the governor’s mansion in Austin.
The sweeping $1 billion school voucher legislation creates Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), which will allow parents to use state tax dollars toward costs associated with educating their children outside of Texas’ public school system.
Saturday’s signing ceremony was the culmination of a yearslong effort from top Texas Republicans and the governor.
“When I ran for reelection in 2022, I promised school choice for the families of Texans. Today we deliver on that promise,” Abbott said outside the governor’s mansion in front of a crowd of hundreds.
“Gone are the days that families are limited to only the school assigned by the government,” he said. “The day has arrived that empowers parents to choose the school that’s best for their child.”
It has been a hard fought path to get the bill to Abbott’s desk — including millions of dollars spent on media campaigns by various supporters and tough primary battles last year to oust Republicans who voted against a similar proposal in 2023.
House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, was one of several who spoke at the signing, where he praised the commitment of Texas House Republicans who voted to pass the bill.
“Despite all of the noise, all of the attacks, they knew school choice was the moral thing to do,” he said.
Supporters like Shinara Morrison, a single mother who spoke during Saturday’s event, told the crowd she had sent her son to public schools, charter schools, and even tried private schools — an option she ultimately realized she couldn’t afford.
Now, she said she believes ESAs will, “empower families like me regardless of income, regardless of where you [are] from, the ZIP code you live in, to choose educational opportunities that fit best for their children.”
Whatever you call it — school choice, vouchers or ESAs — the program has been controversial in Texas.
Protesters also gathered around the governor’s mansion Saturday, including Carrie King. She told The Texas Newsroom she worries the program diverts much-needed funds from Texas’ public schools and doesn't include enough academic accountability measures.
“It feels like this bill is kind of riding this wave that’s sweeping across the nation of pushing inequities, where we’re needing things to go the opposite direction,” said King.
The proposal itself evolved over the last several months in the Texas Legislature. The bill Abbott signed into law on Saturday is different from what lawmakers originally proposed at the beginning of this session. Read on to learn more about what SB 2 does and what Texas leaders and advocates are saying amid its signing.
The ESA program will be initially funded at the tune of $1 billion, the largest starting dollar amount for any program of its kind. More than 30 states have similar initiatives, according to The Associated Press.
Here in the Lone Star State, the program will allow parents to receive around $10,000 — or 85% of what the state gives students per year, on average — to put toward private school tuition. Students with special needs will be able to use up to $30,000 in state funds. Families who homeschool their children can receive $2,000 to be used on approved expenses.
When it comes to ESA eligibility, SB 2 dictates they be awarded to families based on a four-tiered system. First dibs will go to students with disabilities from families earning below a certain income threshold. Second in line are families making at or below $62,400 for a family of four. Third in line are higher income families. From there, any leftover slots in the program will be available to any family, regardless of income.
During the fierce debate around the bill at the Capitol, several Texas Democrats focused on that fourth tier.
“Billionaires can use it, and there's just no explanation of why,” House Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Gene Wu, (D-Houston) said. “If the point is about lifting poor people up, then just make it about poor people.”
But the author of the bill in the Texas House, Rep. Brad Buckley (R-Salado) defended the bill’s tiered system. “It prioritizes the students that we know — if you look at the data —need the most options,” Buckley said.
While Buckley and Abbott represent some of the top elected officials in support of the bill, advocacy groups also lobbied heavily on each side of the debate.
One group supporting school vouchers is The LIBRE Initiative, a group that says its mission is to advance a variety of policies it believes will help Hispanics in Texas.
Their strategic director, Jorge Martinez, has been with the group since 2015. He told The Texas Newsroom that LIBRE has been pushing to expand school choice to Hispanic families.
“For us, it was kind of showing that if you have a son or daughter that needs extra attention — or that might need some tutoring, counseling, physical therapy — you should have that ability to do so,” said Martinez. Essentially, what he calls, “using your tax dollars that you're paying into to find the best education.”
Martinez says a decade ago the idea of education savings accounts was not very widespread. So most of their work then was just educating the public. Often used an analogy about fast food.
“I would say, look, if you're hungry and you want a burger, you want to go to McDonald's, do you pay McDonald's or do you pay Burger King?” Martinez said. “And people were like, well, obviously you pay a McDonald's. Absolutely.”
He told The Texas Newsroom, for most people, that was all it took to get them to understand — and support — the idea.
But some public school parents and people who work within the public education school system have called the measure a slap in the face.
“Make no mistake, this is an attack on public schools,” said Zeph Capo, President of the Texas American Federation of Teachers, during a rally at the Capitol earlier this legislative session. Capo told the crowd he sees vouchers as another part of some lawmakers' efforts to dismantle the public school system.
“It is the playbook we all know too well: Starve schools of resources, shame them for failing to meet unrealistic expectations, and shutter and privatize them,” Capo said.
With Senate Bill 2 signed, the next steps are to get the program up and running.
According to the legislation, the Texas Comptroller must now create the Education Savings Account program. The plan is for Texas parents to be able to apply for ESA funds by the 2026-27 school year.
