Page 13 - School Voucher Program News Today

The lower chamber has traditionally been against school vouchers and the bill still faces a tough road ahead. But in a sign of progress for advocates, this will be the first time such a proposal has reached the full chamber in recent memory.

Three El Paso school districts achieved a small victory after a Travis County judge in late October temporarily blocked the Texas Education Agency from releasing the 2023 A-F accountability ratings. That came after dozens of Texas school districts, including the El Paso, Canutillo and San Elizario Independent School Districts, filed a lawsuit against Commissioner of […]

House Bill 1, which stagnated during the previous special session, finally received a hearing in the lower chamber, a crucial step that will decide whether the proposal gets a full vote.

When lawmakers passed HB-1 in early 2023, it allowed families with special needs students to use vouchers to pay for their child's education, like tutoring, therapy or private schools. But there was a cap on the number of students that could use that money.

The revised bill promises a significant funding increase for public schools and academic accountability measures for students participating in the proposed voucher program, two of the biggest requests from voucher opponents.

The Education Savings Account program allows qualifying students in Davidson, Shelby, and Hamilton counties to attend private schools.

Though lawmakers have drafted a bill to increase public school funding and issue teacher raises, they cannot pass during the special session unless Abbott adds them to his agenda. Teachers were the only state employees to not receive a raise in the regular session.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs spoke out Tuesday against the school voucher program.

Opinion: The response by Gov. Katie Hobbs and Republican legislators to this week's bad budget news is appalling (and totally expected).

Notably, the agenda doesn’t mention school funding or teacher pay raises, both of which were priorities during the regular session.