The chair of the Texas House education committee expects a voucher bill to pass in the next legislative session after failing last year – but it might look different this time.
Speaking at a Dallas Regional Chamber State of Public Education event Tuesday, District 54 Rep. Brad Buckley said he wants well-funded public schools as well as a voucher program with limitations. He said vouchers should go to low-income kids in poorly rated schools.
“And then every session the legislature will have the opportunity to evaluate the program that shows how kids are doing and we’ll be able to make those decisions as we go along,” he said.
Public schools “will educate 95% of our kids, regardless,” said Buckley – whose wife is an assistant superintendent in Killeen ISD -- and vouchers would allow the other 5% to use public dollars to pay for private schools.
“There are too many kids that aren’t doing well enough, and we need to make sure that they can,” he said. “There has never been a more important time for us to have every tool we can at our disposal, so that kids can enjoy the promise of this country.”
Buckley crafted a bill last session that included education savings accounts championed by Gov. Greg Abbott. The package would have funded public schools, teacher pay raises, ESAs, and larger per-student allotments.
Buckley hoped it would appeal to Abbott and Democrats, but rural Republicans saw no benefit to vouchers in their communities where public schools are often the center of life and civic pride.
Twenty-one Republicans joined 63 Democrats in voting to strip ESAs out and the bill, which then died. Abbott had vowed he would sign no education funding bill without ESAs.
The governor endorsed the primary opponents of Republicans who had voted against ESAs, and several of the anti-voucher candidates he targeted lost.
“Republican primary voters have once again sent an unmistakable message that parents deserve the freedom to choose the best education pathway for their child,” Abbott said in a statement after the primary elections.
He said the next Legislature will have the majority needed to create a voucher program.
Bill Zeeble is KERA’s education reporter. Got a tip? Email Bill at bzeeble@kera.org. You can follow him on X @bzeeble.
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