Commentary By Ovidia Molina 

President, Texas State Teachers Association

Gov. Abbott and Lt. Gov. Patrick claim to want to raise teacher pay, but the Senate today is expected to debate SB 2, a voucher bill that, if finally enacted, will make it increasingly more difficult for public school classrooms to be adequately funded and public school teachers to be adequately paid.

The Legislative Budget Board’s fiscal note on SB 2 projects that after an initial cost of about $1 billion during the 2026-27 biennium, the bill will balloon to a $6 billion tax giveaway for private schools in the 2028-29 budget period. Then who knows how high it will soar? Meanwhile, our under-funded public schools will see their financial problems increase – and more teachers disappear from classrooms – as they continue to educate most of Texas’ students.

Several states with existing voucher programs have within a few years dramatically increased tax funding for private schools while reducing appropriations for public education. We believe the same thing will happen in Texas, considering the fiscal note on the Senate bill and the millions of dollars that school privatization advocates have contributed to Abbott’s pro-voucher campaign.

The simple truth is that Texas taxpayers cannot afford two separate education systems, one public and one private. And they cannot afford to give tax subsidies to wealthy families with kids already in private school, many of whom will receive vouchers under this bill.

According to a report released two years ago by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Education Law Center, states with some of the longer records with vouchers have seen substantial increases in state funding for vouchers over the years as per-student funding for public schools has declined. The report is linked at the end of this statement.

Florida – This state, like some other states, has multiple voucher programs, and spending on three of the oldest programs increased by 313 percent between 2008-2019, while per-pupil funding for public education was cut by 12 percent.

Arizona – Increased spending on voucher programs by 270 percent between 2008-2019, while reducing per-pupil funding for public education by 5.7 percent. Then, a few years ago, Arizona adopted a universal voucher program similar to SB 2, which soon helped blow a hole in the state budget.

Georgia – Increased spending on vouchers by 883 percent between 2009-2019, while trimming per-pupil spending on public schools by 1.9 percent.

Indiana – Increased voucher spending by 796 percent between 2012-2019 and cut per-pupil spending on public education by 1.5 percent.

Wisconsin – Increased spending on vouchers by 119 percent between 2008-2019, while essentially freezing per-pupil spending on public schools.

Ohio – This voucher state increased per-pupil spending on public education by 14.2 percent between 2008-2019 but increased voucher spending by 416 percent.