The House Public Education Committee released new proposals for creating education savings accounts and determining how much state funds public districts get. But a scheduled meeting about the bills was canceled.
The Texas House Public Education Committee could propose a $1 billion spending cap for the first two years of a potential school voucher program and increase by $395 the base amount of money public school districts receive for each student.
The potential changes were unveiled Monday when the committee released two rewritten versions of legislation. The committee was slated to discuss the two bills Tuesday, but hours after proposed new versions were released, the panel’s scheduled meeting was canceled. If the changes are adopted and advanced, it could draw into focus key issues the House and Senate will have to resolve before sending priority school funding and school voucher proposals to the governor.
The potential $1 billion spending cap on education savings accounts could be added to Senate Bill 2, the upper chamber’s priority voucher legislation. The proposed cap comes after critics have raised concerns that lawmakers are downplaying what the state could spend on vouchers during the initial rollout. A budget analysis shows costs reaching nearly $5 billion by 2030. Lawmakers also proposed a change to the bill that would allow only U.S. citizens or people lawfully in the country to receive vouchers.
House Bill 2, the school funding measure, currently increases the money districts receive to educate each student by $220. The potential update would increase that amount, referred to as the basic allotment, by $395. The proposed update released Monday would also automatically increase the basic allotment every two years by tying it to property value growth, according to the committee’s summary of the potential changes.
Source: Jaden Edison, The Texas Tribune
Photo Credit: The Texas House of Representatives Public Education Committee holds a hearing in Austin on March 18, 2025. Credit: Kaylee Greenlee for The Texas Tribune
