The Problem with Previous Texas School Choice Proposals

K-12 education in Texas today comes in two forms, public and the private. For the most part in Texas, these two systems operate separately. Unlike many other states, Texas doesn’t have a private school choice program that allows students to attend private or home schools using money from the public system.

However, from a constitutional perspective, these two systems need not be separate. The courts have found that the mandate in the Texas Constitution that the Legislature “make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools” requires public funding of education but does not mandate government delivery of education. In fact, when considered in terms of efficiency—educational and economic, it is desirable that these two systems interact.

However, the leading school choice bills filed in the Texas Legislature in 2023 did not meet any reasonable definition of efficiency. Though touted as “universal,” they would have provided options for only a tiny fraction (less than 2%) of Texas students while costing Texas taxpayers billions of dollars.

Figure 1 shows that the Texas House education plan from 88th legislative session would have cost Texas taxpayers roughly $36.4 billion over the course of five years, with only $6.7 billion going to school choice.

Figure 2 shows the cost of the Senate education plan would have been $14.6 billion over five years, only $500 million of which was dedicated to school choice. Only about 60,000 of Texas’ 5.5 million students would have been able to access the choice program because of the limited funding.

The other problem with the school choice proposals last session was the Texas Legislature put numerous restrictions on how the funding could be used. These restrictions would have applied to private schools and homeschools, largely taking control of how to use the money away from parents—the opposite of what school choice should accomplish—while keeping the education establishment in charge.

Flexible Education Savings Accounts

There is a better way of implementing school choice in Texas, a way that would actually save money, reducing per pupil expenditures on public education while giving parents control of their children’s education. This would be through Flexible Education Savings Accounts. 

A Flex ESA should be available for use with public schools, private schools, virtual (online) education, tutoring, special education, and homeschooling. And it should be funded through tax credits, not tax dollars. Parents and businesses would be able to redirect their property tax or franchise tax payments to pay for private educational costs; businesses would do this by creating private scholarship organizations. Because the Flex ESA does not use tax dollars, the government would have no ability to mandate how funds are used for educational purposes. The money available in a Flex ESA would be $10,000 per student, only 78% of current government school operating costs. This would save the state about $2,800 for every current student that opts to use a Flex ESA.

Because most parents will not receive a large enough property tax credit to fully fund a Flex ESA, businesses will be allowed to set up nonprofit Flex ESA scholarship organizations funded by revenue redirected from their franchise or property tax payments. In case enough businesses do not do this, taxpayer money could be used. However, there must be strong safeguards in place, allowing no restrictions on the use of Flex ESAs for educational purposes and the funding should come from current education spending; it should not be new spending that would cut into the budget surplus as was the case in the 88th legislative session. 

Looking Forward 

Whatever school choice legislation looks like in 2025, it should be considered separately from decisions about funding government schools. Last session Republicans in the Legislature attempted to persuade public educators and Democrats by throwing as much as $29 billion at public education. That did not work in 2023 and it will not work in 2025. Through the ten years preceding the 2021-22 school year, public education funding increased $32.3 billion.This was paid for, in part, by a $21.2 billion increase in property taxes.

The Texas Constitution mandates the Legislature maintain an “efficient system of public free schools.” Flex ESAs would go a long way to making that happen.

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