Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe), chair of the Senate Committee on Education, introduced on Monday a substitute to House Bill (HB) 100 authored by Rep. Ken King (R-Canadian) that includes the $8,000 dollar education savings accounts (ESA) allocations for students found in the contentious Senate Bill (SB) 8.
HB 100, originally intended as a public school teacher funding initiative, keeps many of those same allotments similar to what was intended in SB 9, but now includes the ESA program that Gov. Greg Abbott has signaled will preempt a special session if not passed before sine die.
Creighton has attempted to pass SB 8 this session, but as the bill passed through committees in the Senate and House it became increasingly limited in providing serious school choice options to parents and students.
The new version introduced this morning would make a child eligible for an ESA if a child attended a public school in Texas for at least 90 percent of the previous school year or is enrolling in pre-kindergarten or kindergarten for the first time; this includes children who were homeschooled before enrollment.
Students receive second priority if they are eligible for attendance at a public school, had previously attended private school, or are in a household at or below 200 percent of the poverty line. There is a 10 percent cap in the bill for students who were previously enrolled in a private school.
If applicants to the ESA program exceed the total amount allocated in the bill, then two thirds of the applicants will be given priority if they are eligible to attend schools rated C, D, or F.
Funds for the ESA program will be drawn from the general revenue fund. The bill will utilize $500 million of those funds for the school choice program, and allocate a total of $3.8 billion in new funds for public schools with $300 million annually for special education.
ESA recipients will be able to expense tuition, textbooks, fees for private tutors or teachers, transportation services, and educational therapists.
Similar to the original Senate version of SB 8, ESAs will be supervised by the state comptroller to safeguard funding and establish a process of approving educational assistance organizations.
This new proposal is an attempt by Creighton to pass school choice before the end of the legislative session on Monday, May 29. HB 100 will require passage on the Senate floor before being sent back to the House to approve the changes to the bill.
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Cameron Abrams
Cameron Abrams is a reporter for The Texan. After graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Tabor College and a Master’s Degree from University of the Pacific, Cameron is finishing his doctoral studies where his research focuses on the postmodern philosophical influences in education. In his free time, you will find him listening to a podcast while training for an endurance running event.
