Debate over school choice in Texas centers around low-income students and those with disabilities
For the first time this session, a Texas House Committee discussed a bill that would spend $1 billion in taxpayer money to send students to private school.
At the Texas Capitol, hundreds of people spoke at a committee meeting about House Bill 3, which would set up an education savings account for students. The meeting began at 8 a.m. on Tuesday and lasted until 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Under the bill, the program would be open to all students, including those in public school and those already in private school. However, low-income students and those with disabilities would be prioritized.
Students attending an accredited private school would receive a little over $10,000 a year, while those with disabilities could receive as much as $30,000 a year because of their learning needs. Homeschooled students could receive $2,000.
Most Republicans in the House are firmly behind this legislation, saying it gives all Texas parents an additional choice. A relative few Republicans in the House and all Democrats said this program will hurt public schools because when public school students leave for private school, the tax money will follow them.
Democrats said they believe at the end of the day, while the program may be geared to low-income and disabled students, students from wealthier families and who are already in private school will be the majority who take advantage of the program.
State Representative James Talarico, D-Austin, who sits on the House Public Education Committee, said, "I've looked for a state where a majority of users were low income or weren't already in private school, and I couldn't find a state. So couldn't we in this bill cap the income, meaning millionaires and billionaires can't take advantage of this program?"
In response, the Chairman of the Public Education Committee, Representative Brad Buckley, R-Salado, said, "The reality is you need a universal program that gives access and prioritizes the needs of the most vulnerable. In Arizona, for instance, 58% of the families in the program earn less than $80,000. It's just fact."
Another part of the debate centered around special education students, specifically whether private schools are better suited to cater to these students. Those who support the legislation, including Laura Colangelo, Executive Director of the Texas Private Schools Association, said there are private schools that only have students with disabilities.
"Very often, these schools specialize in these children with learning differences or autism or those other candidates that prevents success at public school come to the private school, get the intensive intervention of getting them back into the public schools with the skills and confidence to make friends," said Colangelo.
Opponents of the bill told lawmakers that public schools need more funding and resources to help special education students and those with disabilities. While private schools won't be required to accept students with disabilities and special needs, public schools are still required to do so under federal law.
Steven Aleman of the group Disability Rights Texas said, "This is really a luxury we cannot afford given the amount of resources that we know are already documented and should be earmarked for meeting those needs - a greater multiplier effect in terms of our special education system for public schools to use with disabilities."
Republicans said this program will be funded by the nearly $24 billion surplus. Public testimony about the bill continued throughout the night on Tuesday. This House committee will likely approve it later this month and send it to the full House. The State Senate already approved its version of the bill.
Watch Eye On Politics on CBS News Texas at 7:30 Sunday morning on air and streaming on CBS News Texas.
