Legislation to allow private school tax credits and vouchers will be considered by the Senate Education Committee on Thursday, pitting top conservative groups and Republicans against public school advocates and Democrats.
The leading bill, authored by Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, chairman of the education committee, would create a $ 100 million private school tuition program that would let lower-income students attend private or religious schools.
Funding would come through donations by businesses, who would in turn receive credits on their state business taxes. The money would be donated to educational assistance organizations, which would award scholarships covering tuition at private schools.
Taylor’s bill has a maximum tuition grant – or voucher – of 75 percent of the average expenditure per pupil in Texas. One education group has calculated that the grant would be about $ 6,600 per year.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is one of the biggest proponents of school choice for lower-income students, particularly those enrolled in schools with low performance ratings.
“If you’re a parent or student in one of our failing schools, you should not be sentenced to that school,” Patrick said at a news conference earlier this month. “The Texas Senate is very serious about making sure every child in Texas has an opportunity and every parent has a choice for the best opportunity for their child.”
Previous attempts to expand tax-supported school choice to private schools have fallen short, in large part because of vigorous opposition from school districts and public education groups, as well as Democrats in the House and Senate. They argue it would take money away from public schools at a time they are still recovering from big funding cuts four years ago.
Supporters of the school choice proposal are considering restricting it to students in Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio in the initial phase of the program. Such a restriction might win some support from rural Republicans, who have been strongly opposed to a statewide voucher program in the past.
