AUSTIN, Texas – State lawmakers are once again debating the controversial school voucher legislation known as the school choice plan.

The Texas House Public Education Committee held a meeting on Monday about the future of education, budgets, and school vouchers. The school voucher plan aims to use tax dollars to pay for students to attend private schools.

A panel of education experts and professionals from across the country presented information on school vouchers in front of members of the Texas House Public Education Committee on Monday.

“Choice programs are successful when they accomplish three things; they need to attract a large and diverse quality of education providers. Second, they must provide information to parents to help them act as informed consumers of education. Third, they should prioritize,” says University of Arkansas Professor of Education Policy Dr. Patrick Wolf.

Governor Greg Abbott’s School Choice Plan was introduced in 2023. It allows students to be given an education savings account in the amount of nearly $8,000 to attend a private school. The funds will come from tax dollars, sparking concern that it may take away from the budget of public schools.

“Such financial support is a game changer. It has significantly democratized access to diverse education settings, allowing parents to customize options that better align with their values, their education and their children’s unique needs,” says Utah Education Fits All Executive Director Robyn Bagley.

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“I guess we are just abandoning making data-informed or data-driven decisions when it comes to taxpayer dollars in this amount. If it is privatized, I think that is really disappointing, considering again how substantially underfunded our neighborhood public schools are,” says District 49 Texas House Representative Gina Hinojosa.

The school choice plan was voted against by members of the Texas House of Representatives in 2023 and may be voted on again in 2025.

“Parents and teachers, we don’t listen enough to those voices when it comes to our neighborhood public schools. We also heard from the expert that is on the panel that these options only work when private schools are allowed to discriminate in admissions,” says Hinojosa.

During the meeting, the panel of education specialists provided feedback on the impact the school vouchers have in their area.

“All K-12 students in the state should be eligible to participate if their parents decide their private school or customized education best serves the child’s educational needs,” says Wolf.

“All of you have been invited to sell us on vouchers, which I appreciate. That is your position and what all of you do for a living, but I am very concerned that we are not getting a true picture across the country from folks who may disagree with your assessment,” says District 52 State Representative James Talarico.

A second day of meetings will be held at the capitol on Tuesday, August 13.