AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas lawmakers passed a $1 billion education bill on Thursday that would allow families to spend public money to pay private school tuition fees, a major victory for supporters of school vouchers across the country cheered by President Donald Trump.
The measure has earned final approval from the state Senate and heads to now Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. Greg Abbott has vowed to make the majority of GOP parliaments muscular to pass the bill and quickly sign the law.
“This is a historic school choice method,” Abbott said in a statement. Posted on x. “Thanks to the dedication of our lawmakers, Texas families have immediate freedom of education!”
Over 30 states have implemented some kind of voucher program in the United States, and in recent years have launched or expanded programs that qualify most students. The Texas version is one of the largest in the country and is considered a major victory for supporters who want to promote similar efforts at the federal level.
For decades, the Texas push has failed in the face of harsh resistance from Democrats and rural Republicans who called it a threat to the state’s public schools with over 5 million students in public classrooms.
However, the supporters gradually gained ground, and the three-term governor, Abbott, threw political muscles behind it in the 2024 election by supporting a large number of candidates who supported it. The effort supported the problems needed after decades of failure.
Trump played a key role in making measurements through a critical state capitol vote a week ago when he spoke with a group of Republican lawmakers and urged them to approve it.
The first year program will close with $1 billion and will be used by up to 90,000 students, but by 2030 it could grow to around $4.5 billion a year. This money can be used to pay for private school tuition or homeschooling and virtual learning programs. Families can earn up to $10,000 per student under the program, while students with disabilities are eligible for $30,000 per year.
Proponents of the measure say vouchers can help parents to drive their children out of underperforming public schools and create a race to force them to improve public schools.
“One of the things that lack in the educational process that made America really great is competition,” said Republican state Sen. Bob Hall.
However, critics argue that by consuming money and resources and providing private schools, they undermine public schools.
And they claim to put money in the pockets of wealthy families who have already sent their children to costly private schools.
The bill “is not about school choices,” the Senate Democrat Caucus said in a statement. “It’s about public grants for private school choices. It’s a step backward for Texas.”
This issue has not been resolved among Republicans across the country. On Monday, Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota rejected the voucher program for the state’s private schools, saying the bill “is far less than a choice to really expand, as it only affects one sector of the student population.”
___ Lathan is a legional member of the Associated Press/Reports America Statehouse News Initiative. American Report It is a non-profit, national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms and reports on secret issues.
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