Some excellent news for Texas parents:
On Wednesday, Texas finally passed a comprehensive school choice bill after years of trying and failing. The legislation could reshape the way the Lone Star State does education.
The state House vote followed a long day of deliberations that lasted well after midnight before passing.
The bill now goes to Gov. Jim Abbott’s desk for signing, and in case anyone has any reservations about his feelings on the topic:
“This is an extraordinary victory for the thousands of parents who have advocated for more choices when it comes to the education of their children,” Abbott said.
The Usual Suspects (i.e. Democrats) were against this bill, along with a couple of malcontent Republicans who (surprise surprise) were formerly public-school superintendents.
So instead of getting “free” education from state schools tied to their home address, Texans will be getting the chance to set up an education savings account (ESA) which can fund their kids’ education — and if their choice of school happens to be the home, that’s just fine. Instead of funds going to schools, in other words, the money will be going to parents to spend on their kids’ education, at schools of their choice. Some details:
The ESA proposal would establish dedicated accounts fueled by public funds that families could tap into to pay for education expenses. An ESA could fund private school tuition, support homeschooling costs or be used for other education-related expenses.
Families in private schools would receive roughly $10,000 per year per child. Children with disabilities would receive $11,500. Homeschooled students could receive $2,000, and homeschooled students with disabilities would be eligible for $2,500.
All in all, excellent news. I just wish we’d had that option when our kids were of that age. Instead, we paid taxes into a system that we never used, and had to fund our kids’ education out of our post-tax dollars.
This will go a long way to alleviate that problem.
