In a surprising turn, major school choice proponents are enthusiastically cheering the Texas House for proposed legislation on Education Savings Accounts.
On Thursday, the House rolled out HB 3, which contains a “strong school choice” provision that “builds on” the pre-existing Senate bill, SB 2, key supporters have said, while opponents still appear as-unconvinced.
However, a large number of last session’s House opponents seem to be at least temporarily placated by the reforms in HB 3, paving the way to an increasing likelihood the bill will pass in some form this legislative session.
The House plan, according to a flyer shared by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, will cover an estimated 100,000 students with Education Savings Accounts (or ESAs). Numerous news sources have shared that $1 billion could be awarded to the school choice program.
Any accredited school or non-profit college can opt-in to serve ESA students. Schools would not be considered “state actors” under the bill, and religious or political values of each school would not be infringed.
As with SB 2, the Texas Comptroller’s office will administer the program with up to five vendors, to be called Certified Educational Assistance Organizations. CEAOs would guide families in searching for options and managing account transfers.
No federal funds would be used.
The bill increases the ESA amount from the Senate bill per student, with funding indexed to public school funding increases.
According to James Dickey of pro-school choice organization Liberty for the Kids, HB 3 answers some key concerns by former opponents about how eligibility is prioritized. Dickey noted current participants in a school choice pilot program for disabled students would be covered, then additional students by lottery, moving through the following disability and low-income and middle-income priority rankings until the funds run out. See chart below:
But, Dickey paused, “when the funds run out” is not easily defined at the moment as state appropriations is separate from HB 3 or SB 2. Furthermore, the ESA cost per student would vary from $2,000 for homeschool (or not-accredited microschool) to 85% of maintenance and operations (M&O) for private school.
Translation: The state already pumps in an average of $12,815 per year per student — at 85% of that sum, that means ESA recipient students could qualify for around $10,893. Schools would be reimbursed up to $6,380 per student who leaves.
See further analysis from Dickey at the X thread below:
Yesterday, the Texas House's bill for school choice Education Savings Accounts – HB3 – was filed.
It builds on the foundation of SB2, authored by @CreightonForTX, strongly supported by Lt. Gov. @DanPatrick and Governor @GregAbbott_TX, and passed by the Texas Senate on Feb.… pic.twitter.com/ulp5A2wpmE
— James Dickey (@jamesdickey) February 22, 2025
Bill author Rep. Brad Buckley told the state press corps the House bill could free-up resources for districts to raise teacher salaries and pay for the rising costs of supplies and services under recent inflation.
“I’m incredibly excited, not just about House Bill 3’s universal ESAs, but with how quickly and decisively the House is moving on parent empowerment this year,” said Texas Public Policy Foundation CEO Greg Sindelar in a press release. “House Bill 3 will provide meaningful options to the parents and children of Texas.”
“This is a fantastic bill for the parents and children of Texas,” said Mandy Drogin, a key figure in the school choice movement. “Every child deserves access to an education that fits their unique needs, and House Bill 3 provides exactly that. It is time to empower parents!”
HB 3 also increases public school funding (long-awaited by school districts, who are threatening job cuts in the upcoming year is something is not done) and tweaks to discipline and accountability standards. The Hayride will take a deeper look into those elements soon.
From the hip: During the last legislative session, the House was accused of stymying efforts to pass a school choice bill, balking at Gov. Greg Abbott‘s threats of killing other bills if it did not pass. (See our coverage from the middle of last session here.) Numerous bills died during the standoff, demonstrating the resolve of both chambers and the governor’s office.
With that recent acrimony in mind, the very existence of HB 3 (let alone its low bill number, which signifies a priority in the Texas Legislature), indicates that significant agreements were made over the interim and early this session to pass it.
Even SB 2 author Sen. Brandon Creighton reposted Dickey’s social media post about HB 3 (shared above). This is a sign that HB 3 is not designed to torpedo SB 2 or create a standoff between the branches of state government, but to get something to the Governor’s desk. Let the education policy wonk games begin.
Abbott and other proponents have predicted since January that a school choice bill is more likely this session than at any other time in Texas’ recent history. But there are two main constituencies that could derail it should the prophesied momentum slow:
1) Democrats, who don’t cotton to “vouchers” much, and who fear this amounts to government paying for religious and political indoctrination. Democratic Rep. James Talarico opined that the increase in school funding may only boost base funding by $220 per student on average (compared to $1,020 in 2019, and no formula increase since then).
2) Rural Republicans, who are under pressure from influential school districts where the problems that plague urban and suburban districts are not as much on their radar. Suzanne Bellsnyder, a Panhandle newspaper publisher and former Senate staffer, pointed out a lack of private school offerings in a large swath of Texas: “‘School Choice’ will not be an option for students or families in 158 of the 254 counties in Texas. Reminder, that’s $1B for a program that won’t benefit all Texas students.”
The devil will be in the details and any conference committee compromise between SB 2 and HB 3, with roughly three months left in the current legislative session.