Comptroller requests doubling Texas school voucher program to $2 billion
The Texas State Teachers Association on Thursday criticized the budget request, saying taxpayers need more information on who has signed up to receive voucher funding before raising the program’s price tag.
Recent state data shows that 70% of families who joined or have pending invites to the program already attended a private school or home-school.
“Many school districts have been forced to close campuses or eliminate programs to tackle budget deficits,” the association said in a statement. “We can’t afford to keep draining increasing amounts of tax dollars from these public schools to support religious and other private schools.”
Officials from the comptroller’s office noted Thursday that the funding request was based on the number of current participants and those on the waitlist, as required by state law. Legislators will tackle Texas’ two-year budget when the next lawmaking session begins in January.
Participating families with a child in private school currently qualify for about $10,500 annually. Home-schoolers receive up to $2,000 per year.
Children with disabilities qualify for up to $30,000, an amount based on what it would cost to educate that student in a public school. However, fewer than 30 students have received the full amount.
Nearly 110,000 students have received funding so far, while more than 106,000 families remain on the waitlist, according to the budget request.
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grok:
Texas public K-12 spent $104.9B in 2024-25 (~$19k/pupil for 5.5M students), per TEA.
