Texas Senate predictably passes its private school voucher bill

The Texas Senate passed its priority voucher bill, Senate Bill (SB) 2 by Sen. Brandon Creighton (R–Conroe), Wednesday night by a 19-12 vote that broke largely along party lines. The vote was not unexpected, despite the thousands of ATPE members who took the time to contact their senators using ATPE’s Advocacy Central to express opposition to the bill.

Sens. Paul Bettencourt (R–Houston), Donna Campbell (R–New Braunfels), Creighton, Pete Flores (R–Pleasanton), Brent Hagenbuch (R–Denton), Bob Hall (R–Edgewood), Kelly Hancock (R–North Richland Hills), Adam Hinojosa (R–Corpus Christi), Joan Huffman (R–Houston), Bryan Hughes (R–Mineola), Phil King (R–Weatherford), Lois Kolkhorst (R–Brenham), Mayes Middleton (R–Galveston), Tan Parker (R–Flower Mound), Angela Paxton (R–McKinney), Charles Perry (R–Lubbock), Charles Schwertner (R–Georgetown), and Kevin Sparks (R–Midland) voted for the voucher.

Sens. Carol Alvarado (D–Houston), Cesar Blanco (D–El Paso), Molly Cook (D–Houston), Sarah Eckhardt (D–Austin), Roland Gutierrez (D–San Antonio), Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D–McAllen), Nathan Johnson (D–Dallas), Jose Menendez (D–San Antonio), Borris Miles (D–Houston), Robert Nichols (R–Jacksonville), Royce West (D–Dallas), and Judith Zaffirini (D–Laredo) voted against the voucher.

Under the direction of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), the Senate has moved SB 2 with unprecedented speed. The Senate Education K-16 Committee, chaired by Creighton, heard and passed SB 2 in a single day just two weeks into the 2025 legislative session.

The House and Senate are constitutionally prohibited from passing most bills during the first 60 days of the session; however, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) cleared the way for Wednesday’s vote by declaring private school vouchers one of seven emergency items for the 89th Texas Legislature.

The Senate voted down several proposed amendments to SB 2, including one by Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D–McAllen) that would have required private schools to comply with the same reporting requirements as public schools related to sexual misconduct, drug use, and other criminal activity by educators.

Sen. Jose Menendez (D–San Antonio) pointed out the deficit budgets, closures, and staff reductions experienced by school districts across the state as a result of the Legislature’s failure to pass a school finance bill in the 2023 session.

Senators voted down an amendment by Menendez that would have held school districts harmless from lost funding for three years and would have required the state to match any federal voucher dollars with contributions to the Foundation School Program (FSP).

Senators also voted down a Menendez amendment that would have required any schools receiving public tax dollars to hire certified teachers, adopt minimum standards for school safety and bullying, recognize Holocaust Awareness Day, and have transparent curriculum as in the public schools.

Senators approved a number of Republican amendments, including one by Creighton to allow for-profit companies to be approved as education assistance organizations administering the billion-dollar voucher program. Senators also approved a Creighton amendment that requires education service providers to be registered to do business in Texas and be physically located in Texas.

Homeschool students under the bill would be eligible for up to $2,000. Senators amended SB 2 to provide an additional $500 to homeschool students with a disability for a total of $2,500.

Senators capped the amount allowed to accrue in a student’s account at $20,000 and clarified that parents can’t transfer funds from the education savings account (ESA) to a private bank account or be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses. Senators amended the bill to prohibit education assistance organizations from charging a fee per transaction.

After roughly seven hours of debate, Creighton used his last speech on the bill before its final passage to launch into a lengthy harangue of teachers and public education supporters, elected and otherwise, who oppose vouchers, including a tangent implying that teachers are rubes who are being duped and misrepresented by their own professional organizations. In doing so, he dangled a thinly veiled threat to outlaw payroll deduction. Of course, ATPE members, via the member-adopted ATPE Legislative Program, are the driving force behind the association's advocacy, including our positions on vouchers and payroll deduction.

The bill will now go to the Texas House, where representatives under the leadership of new Speaker Dustin Burrows (R–Lubbock) will determine its fate. The House has yet to announce committee assignments and chairs, which must happen for committees to begin hearing bills.