The Texas Senate Education Committee held its first hearing surrounding the school choice proposal filed last week.
State Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) vigorously defended Senate Bill 2, of which he is the main author, touting that its education savings accounts could assist up to 100,000 students in the 2026-2027 school year.
“We work within scarce dollars. And speaking of that, the funds for the education savings accounts—they don’t come from public education. In fact, we have a separate bill with an incredible and historic lift for public education.”
Creighton, who also chairs the committee, acknowledged that expanding the program further could create logistical problems as it would require upwards of $50 billion every school year to include all of Texas’ roughly five million enrolled students.
Currently, there is a likely 100,000-student upward limit to the program, given its funding. However, the inclusion of more money for students with disabilities and only $2,000 for homeschooled children could mean that number ends up slightly lower.
The preliminary budget proposals from both chambers allocate $1 billion toward school choice for the 2026-2027 biennium. The 2026 Texas fiscal year begins on September 1, 2025, while the 2026-2027 school year starts in August 2026.
The budgets also include around $5 billion in new funding for education. The Senate proposal specifically includes a $4,000 raise for all teachers and an additional $6,000 for rural teachers, which Creighton touted.
“This program is still ten times what Florida launched 25 years ago and, I believe, it is a 100x factor or more on what Arizona began with. But for 20-plus years, those two states respectively started out with a focus of public school students needing an option that might involve a private school opportunity,” explained Creighton.
Before invited testimony, Creighton clarified to State Sen. Angela Paxton (R-McKinney) that the proposal would not allow students to use their ESA to take public school classes a la carte, but students could use resources available on a public school campus like laboratories upon request.
Creighton also clarified that co-ops and learning pods would qualify as homeschools, so those families would only receive a $2,000 ESA. Micro-schools would also qualify as homeschools unless accredited by the Texas Education Agency.
The $2,000 “wouldn’t tell them what curriculum to purchase, but it would make sure safety is a factor and that legitimate companies are a factor,” said Creighton.
Russell Withers, director of policy and general counsel at the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute, testified in favor of the measure and specifically praised its lack of connection to public school funding increases.
“School choice is not a battle between traditional public schools and private schools. … It’s simply not possible for a system as big and vast as the Texas public school system to serve the individualized needs of every kid in Texas,” said Withers.
Arif Panju, managing attorney with the Institute for Justice, criticized an argument made by school choice opponents that education clauses in state constitutions mandating public schools be offered preclude any alternative form of education.
“It’s just a mandate,” said Panju. “These things … are not prohibitions on the legislature’s power to create additional educational options. The Texas Supreme Court has held that decades ago, and the plain language of the provision says as much.”
The legislation passed the committee by a 9-2 vote and will now be sent to the full Senate for a vote next week.
Creighton stated in a press release after the vote that Tuesday marked “a significant step forward in expanding educational opportunities for Texas students.”
“SB 2 is just one of the major reforms that will be addressed by the committee this session,” assured Creighton. “In addition to expanding educational freedom, the Senate Committee on Education K-16 will advance the Texas Teacher Bill of Rights, raises for classroom teachers, and many other critical policy and funding reforms for the 6 million students in Texas schools. I look forward to the work ahead, and appreciate the many Texans who made their voices heard today.”
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