Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signs sweeping school voucher law

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed the nation’s largest school voucher program into law, authorizing education savings accounts for parents to spend tax dollars on alternatives to public schooling.

The law allows qualifying students to use roughly $10,000 a year in state funds for tuition at any institution beginning in the 2026-27 term, with an initial $1 billion budget cap that will be removed the following year.

According to Private School Review, the average private school in Texas charges $11,348 per year.

As he signed the legislation Saturday, the Republican governor noted that the program follows years of failed GOP efforts to make public funds available for private education.

“Today, Texas delivers on that promise,” Mr. Abbott said. “I am signing this law that will ensure Texas families, whose children can no longer be served by the public school assigned to them, have the choice to take their money and find the school that is right for them.”

The program arrives as the Trump administration and a growing number of GOP-led states have enacted policies to redirect federal and state education tax dollars to parents.

President Trump has pledged to sign tax credit legislation pending in Congress that would let taxpayers deduct up to 10% of their adjusted gross income — and corporations up to 5% of their taxable income — as donations to private K-12 scholarship funds. Twenty-one states, including Pennsylvania, Florida and Arizona, allow similar deductions on state tax returns.

Norton Rainey, CEO of ACE Scholarships, a Colorado nonprofit distributing private school scholarships to needy families in Texas and 11 other states, said educational choice policies offer “life-changing outcomes” to students who struggle in public schools.

“After decades of fighting for educational freedom, quality education is now within reach for millions of Texans,” Mr. Rainey said.

Democrats, teachers’ unions and rural voters without private education options have long accused school vouchers of taking vital resources away from struggling public campuses.

In statements shared Monday with The Washington Times, the nation’s two largest teachers’ unions condemned Texas’ new program.

“Voucher schemes are transparent attempts to diminish parental choice by syphoning money away from public schools to pay for tax cuts for billionaires,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. “The Texas bill takes money used to support all students and hands it directly to unaccountable private operators — a tax cut for the rich.”

Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, emphasized that 90% of U.S. children attend public schools.

“If we are serious about doing what’s right for every student’s future, let’s do what works,” Ms. Pringle said. “Support public schools so that every student has inviting classrooms, modern technology, and textbooks; offer competitive pay and benefits to recruit and retain well-trained, diverse educators and support staff; reduce class sizes so that our students get the one-on-one attention they deserve.”

The Texas law signed Saturday will allow children accepted into the voucher program to receive 85% of what public schools spend per student. There are roughly 6 million school-aged children in the state.

Students with disabilities from families earning incomes at or below 500% of the federal poverty line will receive the highest priority for funds. Parents of students with disabilities will be eligible to receive up to $30,000 annually, three times more than other students.

The American Federation for Children, a school choice advocacy group, noted that the law will also let low- and middle-income parents spend money on private school services such as special needs therapies, tutoring, extracurricular activities and transportation.

“It cannot be overstated how important this victory is, not only for Texas families but also for parents and students across America, as this victory marks a tipping point for the nation,” said Tommy Schultz, the group’s CEO.