by (in alphabetical order) John Garrett Clawson, Cassie Davis, Reynaldo De La Garza, Katie Floyd, Sarah Pollock
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While no ESA program currently exists in Texas, the 2015 bill SB 1178 describes several program features that may be included in later bills.Parents who register for the proposed in 2015 the Texas Senate considered an ESA bill (SB 1178). The bill did not pass, but it may have features in common with ESA proposals that are considered in 2017.
According to the 2015 ESA bill, parents who participated in the ESA program would receive a debit card with funds that may be applied to educational expenses. The office of the Texas Commissioner would be in charge of establishing and managing funds to be distributed for approved educational-related expenses for eligible students. The debit card would be funded with 80% of the amount that would have been allocated to the student in the their home school district he/she would have otherwise attended. Students with disabilities or “educational disadvantages” and students living in poverty (“educationally disadvantaged” students) would receive the full amount (100%) that would have been allocated to the their home school district that they would have otherwise attended. A third party would assess applications to determine the level of funding for which each student was eligible. The
In the 2015 Texas bill, the amount allocated per student is would have been similar to the amount allocated by ESA programs in other states. For example, Arizona allocates 90% of the amount that would have gone to a public school for a given student (FN SB 1363, 2013), Nevada allocates up to 90% (SB 302, 2015), Tennessee allocates 100% (SB 431, 2015), and Florida and Mississippi allocate fixed amounts ($9,000 and $6,500) that are comparable to those states' per student public education spending (Florida SB 850, 2014; Mississippi SB 2695, 2015; the Mississippi amount is legislated to increase with per pupil public school spending).
To sign up for the program proposed in by the 2015 Texas bill, parents would agree (SB 1178, 2015):
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Sandra Chereb. “Nevada Supreme Court Strikes Down School Choice Funding Method.” Las Vegas Review-Journal. September 29, 2016.
S.B. 1178, Texas 84th Cong. (2015).
S.B. 1363 Fiscal Note, Arizona 51st Cong. Schimpp, Steve. (2013).
S.B. 2695, Mississippi 114th Cong. (2015).
S.B. 302, Nevada 302nd Cong. (2015).
S.B. 431, Tennessee 431st Cong. (2015).
S.N. 850, Florida 116th Cong. (2014).
Villanueva, Chandra. "It's Time to Renovate our School Finance System." Center for Public Policy Priorities. 18 October 2016, University of Texas-Austin, TX.
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