By Ovidia Molina
Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick say they want to raise teacher pay, but if finally enacted, Senate Bill 2, the voucher bill passed by the Senate, would make it increasingly more difficult for public school classrooms to be adequately funded and public school teachers to be adequately paid.
The Legislative Budget Board’s fiscal note on SB 2 projects that, after an initial cost of about $1 billion during the 2026-27 biennium, the bill would balloon into a $7 billion tax giveaway for private schools in the 2028-29 budget period. After that, who knows how high it would soar?
Meanwhile, our already underfunded public schools would see their financial problems increase – and more teachers disappear from classrooms – as they continued to educate most of Texas’ students.
The Senate bill sponsor questions the budget experts’ forecast, which is based on anticipated growth in the program. But the governor hasn’t invested a mountain of political effort in this plan to see it curtailed. If this universal voucher plan is approved this year, it will be expanded at a significant cost in the future.
Several states with existing voucher programs have, within a few years, dramatically increased tax funding for private schools while reducing appropriations for public education. We believe something similar will happen in Texas, considering the fiscal note on the Senate bill, the governor’s zeal for the legislation and the millions of dollars that school privatization advocates are still spending to promote vouchers.
Meanwhile, Texas teachers are paid, on average, more than $9,000 less than their national peers, and Texas spends more than $5,000 less per student than the national average, based on the National Education Association’s rankings of state-by-state education spending during the 2023-24 school year.
According to a report released two years ago by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Education Law Center, states with some of the longer records with vouchers have seen substantial increases in state funding for vouchers over the years as per-student funding for public schools has declined.
- Florida – This state, like some other states, has multiple voucher programs, and spending on three of the oldest programs increased by 313%between 2008-2019, while per-pupil funding for public education was cut by 12%.
- Arizona – Increased spending on voucher programs by 270% between 2008-2019, while reducing per-pupil funding for public education by 5.7%. Then, a few years ago, Arizona adopted a universal voucher program similar to SB 2, and its initial cost quickly increased.
- Georgia – Increased spending on vouchers by 883% between 2009-2019, while trimming per-student spending on public schools by 1.9%.
- Indiana – Increased voucher spending by 796% between 2012-2019 and cut per-pupil spending on public education by 1.5%.
- Wisconsin – Increased spending on vouchers by 119% between 2008-2019, while essentially freezing per-student spending on public schools.
- Ohio – This voucher state increased per-pupil spending on public education by 14.2% between 2008-2019 but increased voucher spending by 416%.
Anyone who thinks a similar outcome can’t occur in Texas had better think again. It can, and many educators fear it will.
The simple truth is that Texas taxpayers cannot afford two separate education systems, one public and one private. And they cannot afford to give tax subsidies to upper-income families with kids already in private school, many of whom would receive vouchers under the Senate bill.
Ovidia Molina is president of the Texas State Teachers Association.
The post Opinion: Texas voucher bill will balloon in cost, reduce chances for future teacher pay raises, well-funded classrooms appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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