BREAKING DOWN Senate Bill 8 Education savings accounts in the revised Senate Bill 8 would provide families with $7,500 per student for education- related expenses. Parents would choose how those funds are spent within certain parameters outlined in the bill.
ELIGIBILITY
EXPENSES COVERED
CONTINUED FROM 1
Tuition and fees for a private school Textbooks or other instructional materials and uniforms Costs related to academic assessments Fees for private tutors or teaching services Transportation fees Fees for educational therapies not covered by a government program
A child is eligible if they:
SB 8 is one of Gov. Greg Abbott’s seven emergency priorities for 88th legislative session. “My job is to make sure we get across the nish line a piece of legisla- tion that will return mom and dad to being in charge of their child’s educa- tion,” he said during a visit to Cypress Christian School on March 21. The Legislative Budget Board reported the program would cost the state over $531 million through August 2025. While the program would not use funds allocated for public schools, opponents of the legislation have expressed concerns that more funding is needed in pub- lic schools, which could lose more money if their students leave to attend private schools. The basic allotment—the amount school districts receive from the state—has been set at $6,160 per stu- dent since 2019-20. Texas ranks No. 42 nationally in per-student spend- ing, according to Education Week’s 2021 School Finance Rankings. The Texas comptroller of public accounts reported a $900 increase in the basic allotment would be needed just to keep up with ination. The Texas House was considering a $140 increase over the next two years as of press time. In 2019, House Bill 3 included a $1,020 increase in the basic allotment for an estimated $4.5 billion. “We are begging for any mor- sel of additional funding for public schools, and ... [vouchers] do the opposite,” said Laura Yeager, direc- tor of Just Fund It TX, at an April 4 news conference. School districts across the state, including Katy ISD, saw budget decits in scal year 2022-23 due to COVID’s impact on attendance. Katy ISD’s 2023 budget included an $18 million decit with state funding making up 52.8% of revenue and local property taxes making up 47.2%, according to budget documents. Public education advocates have also raised concerns that private schools are not required to meet state and federal standards for account- ability, accessibility and safety. A closer look at Senate Bill 8 If this bill becomes law, students enrolled in public schools and stu- dents enrolling in kindergarten or pre-K for the rst time could apply for an education savings account. As many as 62,500 low-income students
provision that districts with fewer than 20,000 students would receive $10,000 for each student that leaves the district for a private school. Finally, the revision eliminates restrictions to classroom lessons. Michael Barba, K-12 education pol- icy director at the Texas Public Pol- icy Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Austin, said he believes SB 8 would make “great progress” toward giving parents alternatives if they have concerns about the quality of their children’s education. Data provided by the TPPF shows Are eligible to attend public school Are enrolled for the current school year in a public school Are enrolled in a public school pre-K for the rst time Attended a public school for at least 90% of the previous school year General state revenue Money appropriated to the fund Gifts, grants and donations FUNDING SOURCES
55.3% of the average private school tuition in Katy ISD would be covered.
SOURCES: TEXAS LEGISLATURE ONLINE, TEXAS PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATIONCOMMUNITY IMPACT
Public school impacts Statewide public education advo- cacy nonprot Raise Your Hand Texas was founded 17 years ago primarily to push back against the voucher move- ment happening in the Texas Legis- lature at the time, Senior Director of Policy Bob Popinski said. Since then, there have been a few attempts to bring education sav- ings accounts to Texas, but Popinski said he believes the concept is get- ting more momentum this session because this has become a growing national trend since the pandemic. Popinski said there are no benets to public schools under such programs. “You are taking money and divert- ing it from public schools to a private school or vendor that does not have to o¨er the same accountability as a public school,” he said. Public schools are held account- able through many avenues that pri- vate schools are not, Popinski said. These include being governed by locally elected school boards and fol- lowing publicly reported, state-man- dated measures such as standardized testing like the STAAR test, the AªF accountability rating system, a nan- cial integrity rating system and certi- cation provisions. This program would also nega- tively a¨ect public schools nan- cially, as the state funding they receive is based on students’ average daily attendance, Popinkski said. If ve or six students opt to take the voucher and leave their public school, that funding lost equates to a teacher’s salary, he said. Barba argues that data from com- parable programs across the country shows a minimal impact on public school attendance. He said similar programs nationally show less than 3% of eligible students use the
already enrolled in private schools may also be eligible, Creighton said. Amendments proposed to require private schools receiving voucher funds to meet the same account- ability or safety training standards as Texas public schools were voted down by the Senate. Ultimately, the bill passed out of the Senate with an 18-13 vote April 6—one Republican and all Democrats voted against it. The bill was then referred to the House, where it was expected to face heavy opposition. The same day SB 8 passed in the Senate, the House amended the
about 1.6 million students across the state, or 55.3%, are below grade level in English and read- ing classes, and about 1.5 million are below grade level in math, or 62.5%. “The reason [parents] are voicing their concerns now is because they
state budget to prohibit the use of public funds for education savings accounts in an 86-52 vote. A similar
“MY JOB IS TO MAKE SURE WE GET ACROSS THE FINISH LINE A PIECE OF LEGISLATION THAT WILL RETURN MOM AND DAD TO BEING IN CHARGE OF THEIR CHILD’S EDUCATION.” GOV. GREG ABBOTT
amendment gar- nered 115 votes in the previous 2021 legislative session. During previous legis- lative sessions, voucher pro- grams have died in the House with- out a committee hearing. The Texas House Public Education Committee made revisions to SB 8 on May 10, the latest update to the bill as of press time. Annual stipends in the revised bill were changed from $8,000 to $7,500 for average students. Additionally, after the revision parents would receive $9,000 for private school tuition if their child is educationally disadvantaged and $10,500 a year for private school tuition if their child is educationally disadvantaged and has a disability. The revised bill eliminates a
see that the education that was pro- vided throughout the time of COVID either isn’t up to the level of quality that they expect for their child, or it’s not aligned with their family values,” Barba said. Although public schools are required to teach to standards estab- lished by the State Board of Edu- cation, private schools do not have the same restrictions regarding what they can teach students. Demographics rm Population and Survey Analysts reports about 2.8% of students living within Katy ISD boundaries attended private schools as of 2021-22.
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