- [All] Save Texas schools, save Texas schools!

- [Narrator] Last month, families and staff from Rundberg joined with many others from across the state to protest school vouchers.

There's been a lot of discussion around these both for and against them.

- It's not fair for parents.

They can't afford taking their kids to private schools.

- But what are school vouchers and what will they look like in Texas?

School vouchers are government-funded vouchers that cover educational costs, like private school tuition or homeschooling.

You might have heard it called school choice by people who support it.

In Texas, lawmakers have proposed vouchers in the form of educational savings accounts or ESAs.

ESAs are state funded bank accounts filled with public funds.

That means tax dollars.

Parents who remove their kids from public schools can use money from these accounts to cover educational costs like tuition, online schooling, or private tutoring.

Lawmakers want to set aside $1 billion to start ESAs, allocating about $10,000 per student.

That means that there is enough money for up to 100,000 students.

So who's eligible for this money?

Anyone zoned to a K through 12 Texas school, including students already in private school.

If more people apply than there are spaces, priority will be given to students with disabilities and to families earning about five times the federal poverty level.

So why do lawmakers want school vouchers?

Proponents argue that it gives middle and lower income families more schooling options, helps homeschoolers and makes public schools more competitive.

But opponents say vouchers take money away from public education, and that 10 grand isn't enough to cover private tuition if you can even find a private school in your area.

The average private school tuition in Texas is just over $11,000.

It's a little higher in Travis County.

The average tuition is over $16,000 and fees will run you an additional $1,800.

Data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that most private schools in Texas are concentrated around major cities.

In most rural areas, there are no private schools.

92 counties have less than five private schools.

This is why lots of rural lawmakers opposed vouchers in the past.

Even in cities like Austin, private schools might not be accessible or affordable.

In Travis County, there are 81 private schools, hardly any are in Austin Eastern Crescent, and there are no private schools in Rundberg.

The closest schools cost between 9,000 to $13,000 in tuition.

So if a family did receive a voucher, they could still have to pay around $3,000 out of pocket.

- You have to work double the time just to afford it.

Your family time will be more actually work time, not also counting on your rent or your mortgage, your car payment, your food, your utilities.

I mean, that's way over the budget that regular hard worker people, we can't afford it.

- According to the US Census Bureau, the average income in Rundberg is just over $60,000.

But if there's a school that you can get into that's close by, do vouchers work?

Are these schools better?

It's a little tricky to say.

US News ranks Texas as 28th in pre-K through 12 education.

But while public schools have to share state test scores, private schools don't have to share that data.

Opponents point out that there's actually a lot of stuff private schools don't have to do.

Anyone can apply to a private school, but they don't have to accept you.

Because public schools get federal funding, they have to follow federal laws and provide an equal education to students of any religion, ethnicity, or level of disability.

But since private schools don't receive federal dollars, they don't have to follow these rules.

The Texas Private School Association says that 75% of private schools do serve students with disabilities.

- [All] Save Texas schools, save Texas schools!

- But since 25% do not, some disability rights advocates say that it is still discrimination.

Now, Texas isn't the only state that's interested in school vouchers.

Arizona actually started a school voucher program in 2022.

So how's it been working out for them?

Arizona uses empowerment savings accounts.

The goal was that lower income families could also afford a private education.

But according to a ProPublica analysis, poor neighborhoods in Maricopa County used fewer vouchers.

Their wealthier neighbors actually used more.

Vouchers are also impacting Arizona's budget.

The cost of vouchers in 2024 was supposed to be $64.5 million, but it has since skyrocketed to $332 million.

That's a 400% increase.

Arizona has to make up for these losses by cutting other state programs and projects.

Now, Texas does have money.

The state is currently sitting on a $24 billion budget surplus.

But voucher opponents say that money should be used to fund public schools, which they say are underfunded.

They're also concerned that vouchers will make that worse.

That means we gotta do more math.

Texas funds public schools based on attendance.

Right now, they receive just over $6,000 per student.

If a student leaves, schools get less money, but the school operating costs remain the same, putting them in a deficit.

In more affluent areas, parents might be able to help shoulder some of those additional costs.

But that can be really hard for communities like Rundberg, where more than 90% of public school students are considered economically disadvantaged.

So why are we hearing so much about school vouchers all of a sudden?

- They make it sound like you can't have both school choice and robust public schools.

That's completely false.

The reality is we can have the best public schools in America and also have school choice at the very same time.

It does not have to be one or the other and it's wrong to pit one against the other.

- Governor Greg Abbott has been pushing for school vouchers for years.

In the past, he lacked enough support because lots of rural lawmakers oppose school vouchers.

Abbott successfully campaigned against these politicians, ousting 12 voucher opponents in the March 2024 Republican primary election.

He called it a tidal wave of support for school vouchers.

One survey by the University of Texas Public Policy Project found that 52% of respondents supported starting a voucher program.

And that brings us to the current legislative session where there's support in both the House and the Senate for school voucher bills.

So what's next?

With support in both chambers, school vouchers are highly likely to pass this year.

If signed, the new law would go into effect in September, but we'll have to wait and see who will end up using those funds and how they'll impact public schools.

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