ATPE Lobbyist Tricia Cave (left) testifies before the House Public Education Committee on March 11.

Chairman Brad Buckley (R–Salado) presented his priority voucher legislation, House Bill (HB) 3, to the House Public Education Committee Tuesday, March 11, in a marathon hearing that stretched from 8 a.m. until 6:30 a.m. the following day. Over 700 people registered positions on the bill, with more than 500 of those registering to testify; at least 70% of the witnesses signed up in opposition to the bill.  

HB 3 would create a state-funded voucher tied to 85% of per-pupil—local, state and federal—public school funding, or approximately $10,880 this year, an amount which is approximately double the state’s portion of public school funding. The amount would be set annually by TEA Commissioner Mike Morath. All children would be eligible. However, if the program is oversubscribed by lower income and special education students, it would prioritize access to the funds by those groups before eventually opening to everyone, including students already attending private school and from households making more than 500% of the federal poverty guidelines. The bill would also allow $2,000 for homeschooled students and up to $30,000 for a student with special needs.   

The hearing started with four panels of invited testimony. The invited witnesses included two panelists from EdChoice, a pro-voucher reform group founded by famously anti-public education activist Milton Friedman and funded by a handful of pro-privatization mega donors; representatives of the Texas Private Schools Accreditation Commission and the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops; a panelist from Disability Rights Texas; two teachers from Edgewood ISD, which had a privately funded, failed voucher program in the early 2000s; Dr. Josh Cowen, a researcher from Michigan State University who turned from a Betsy Devos-funded pro-voucher analyst to staunch voucher opponent; and Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D., of the Intercultural Development Research Association. The invited testimony took up the entire day, making it 7 p.m. before the public finally got a chance to weigh in on the bill. 

“My intent is to provide families with the opportunity to choose the best possible educational setting for their child,” said Buckley in his introduction of the bill. “I believe House Bill 3 provides this choice while prioritizing Texas’ most high-needs and vulnerable students.” 

Rep. Jeff Leach (R–Plano) agreed with Buckley, stating, “Right now, the fact is that public schools have choices that parents don’t have. We have over 1,200 independent school districts in this state, each of whom the state has empowered to make certain decisions parents in those districts disagree with.” Leach added that although he loves his local public schools and sends his children to them, he doesn’t understand why people are afraid of “true freedom and choice and competition.” 

Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D–Austin) expressed frustration about the opportunity cost of the bill. “One of the challenges I have with this bill is that it takes a billion dollars that we could be spending on public schools.” Rep. Harold Dutton (D–Houston) echoed this, stating, “Most kids in Texas are still going to be in public schools. That to me says our most urgent response ought to be to fix public schools.” 

Committee members opposed to vouchers keyed in on the universal eligibility in HB 3, pointing out that although proponents say it prioritizes low-income and special needs students, the bill is open to anyone, including the wealthy, and may be easier for them to access because a student must be accepted both by the voucher program and a participating private school in order to access to the funds.  

“Do you think our taxpayer dollars should go to a family making over $500,000 a year, who are already sending their kids to private school?” Rep. James Talarico (D–Round Rock) asked Chairman Buckley. “Not a low-income family. We could have that conversation. Not even a working-class, middle-class family. We could have that conversation. But your bill allows for, literally, millionaires to take money that would go to public schools to subsidize their private school tuition.” He asked Buckley to add a provision to the bill that would bar wealthy families from accessing the voucher, saying if low-income families were the priority, that shouldn’t be an issue. Buckley declined to accept such an amendment.   

Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has made it clear that he will not accept anything less than a universal voucher, meaning that any change in eligibility would likely result in the governor’s refusing to support HB 3. Abbott has been relentless in his pursuit of vouchers, posting on social media multiple times a day, hosting rallies with state representatives at private schools, and declaring school choice an emergency item in his February State of the State address.  

Rep. Alan Schoolcraft (R–Seguin) defended Buckley and HB 3, insisting that the “millionaires and billionaires” argument was silly and not a major factor in the implementation of the bill. He pointed out that wealthy families also pay property taxes, and many enroll their children in public schools. “It seems awfully petty to me to spend all this time and effort worrying about this infinitesimal little group of people,” Schoolcraft said. He did not address criticism that the billionaires standing to gain the most from the bill are not those seeking an individual voucher but those with ties to vendors expected to vie for more than $80 million in state contracts should the legislation pass. 

Vice Chair Diego Bernal (D–San Antonio) questioned Laura Colangelo of the Texas Private Schools Accreditation Commission about a student whose low-income family wouldn’t be able to afford the private school costs even with a voucher. “If the voucher/ESA is worth $10,500,” Bernal hypothesized, “and the tuition is more than that, by $1,000, by $10,000, by $20,000, should we ask that the private institution waive the remaining?” Colangelo replied, “We have concerns about that idea, specifically because you would be dictating the processes and operations within a private school and interfering with the contract between the parent and the student.”  

An interesting change from voucher debates in previous sessions was the significant number of parents identifying as staunch Republicans testifying against HB 3. Perhaps as many as one out of three witnesses fell into that category, aligning with recent trends around the state. Within the last month, for example, constituents have booed their state legislators at multiple town hall events; the famously conservative Tarrant County Republican precinct chairs voted down a pro-voucher resolution; and Allen West, chair of the Dallas County Republican Party and former chair of the Republican Party of Texas, came out against HB 3 and its Senate counterpart in an op-ed.  

ATPE Lobbyist Tricia Cave testified against the bill, asking committee members to consider what will happen if HB 3 passes and the Texas economy has a downturn. “This program, just in the proposal stage, has already doubled in cost. This is a situation where once the genie is out of the bottle, it’s going to be impossible to put back in. I ask you to consider that there will come a time when this state no longer has a $24 billion surplus. What do we do then? Where do the cuts come?” Cave urged the committee to commit to cutting voucher funds before cutting public school funding when the issue arises. ATPE also submitted written testimony. (Watch Cave's oral testimony.) 

After more than 11 hours of public testimony, the bill was left pending around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. It is not clear at this time when the committee will vote on HB 3. Buckley has signaled his intent for the committee to vote on HB 2, the school finance bill, next Tuesday, March 18. Follow Teach the Vote for more updates.