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Texas is now the largest state with a school voucher program, and soon it's likely to spend more on school vouchers than any other state. But as Texas - but as the Texas Newsroom's Blaise Gainey reports, advocates say they aren't done fighting the program.
BLAISE GAINEY, BYLINE: Leaders in the Texas Republican Party are celebrating and patting each other on the back after Governor Greg Abbott signed the bill into law.
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GREG ABBOTT: School choice is now the law of the great state of Texas.
GAINEY: The measure establishes an education savings account program that allows families to use state tax dollars to help pay for private school tuition for their kids.
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ABBOTT: Gone are the days that families are limited to only the school assigned by government. The day has arrived that empowers parents to choose the school that's best for their child.
GAINEY: Texas joins more than a dozen states that already have a voucher-like program. The idea is popular with Republicans and has been pushed by wealthy political donors. Proponents say the education savings accounts are meant to benefit students with disabilities and those in low-income households. Talking to me on the House floor, state Representative Brad Buckley says he designed Texas program the same way.
BRAD BUCKLEY: It prioritizes the students that we know, if you look at the data, need the most options.
GAINEY: Speaking to the crowd at the bill signing, Shinara Morrison says that as a single mom, it'll give her the freedom to choose the best learning environment for her son.
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SHINARA MORRISON: With ESA, it's going to empower families like me, regardless of income, to choose educational opportunities that fits best for their children.
GAINEY: But some research shows that students from low-income families aren't necessarily the ones who benefit from voucher programs. During debate, House Democrats pointed to Arkansas, where state data shows 95% of students in a similar program were already enrolled in a private school or were a first-time kindergartener. In Texas, private school students will make up 87% of those who apply. That's according to the state's fiscal analysis. That's why Democrats, including House caucus chair Representative Gene Wu, say the money would be better spent going to public schools. And he says the program will cost the state more every year.
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GENE WU: This program's going to be a billion dollars the first time, but it's going to be $8 billion the next, and then $10 billion after that. Every single penny of that is money that could have gone to save your local public schools.
GAINEY: There were only two Republicans who voted against it. One, Representative Dade Phelan, says the state is putting itself in a bad place.
DADE PHELAN: That's a lot of money for our state budget. And if we ever see a deficit, if we do see an economic downturn here in Texas and nationally, that's a concern for me. Where's that money going to come from?
GAINEY: While the bill is now law, the chair of the Democratic Party of Texas, Kendall Scudder, says they aren't done fighting it.
KENDALL SCUDDER: Texans have a constitutional right to a public education and an efficient public education system. That is what they are denying from us.
GAINEY: Scudder says on that basis, Democrats may try to take the fight to court.
SCUDDER: If that means that we end up in litigation, then that would mean that it would end up in litigation.
GAINEY: Unless Democrats have their way, the program will be up and running in fall of 2026.
For NPR News, I'm Blaise Gainey in Austin.
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