Gov. Greg Abbott signs bill creating Education Savings Accounts program in Texas​on May 3, 2025 at 8:24 pm

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation into law on Saturday that creates Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) in Texas.

Texas Republicans call the legislation “school choice.” The $1 billion program will allow families to spend state funds on private school tuition.

Abbott signed the bill at the Texas Governor’s Mansion on Saturday afternoon, where he was joined by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R-Texas), House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) and the two state lawmakers who authored the legislation: State Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe), who chairs the Senate Education K-16 committee, and State Rep. Brad Buckley (R-Salado), who chairs the House Public Education Committee.

Other state lawmakers, leaders and advocates who supported the policy were also in attendance as Abbott signed SB 2 into law.

“When I ran for reelection, when I ran for reelection in 2022, I promised school choice for the families of Texas. Today, we deliver on that promise,” Abbott said. “Gone are the days that families are limited to only the school assigned by government. The day has arrived that empowers parents to choose the school that’s best for their child.”

Last week, Patrick and Creighton recommended the Senate concur with, or agree to, the changes House lawmakers made to the bill, sending the bill to the governor’s desk. 

The bill’s passage is a major political victory for Abbott, who listed “school choice” as his top priority this legislative session. Similar legislation has passed the Senate a handful of times in previous sessions, but the proposals had previously always failed in the House. 

“It took a long time to get to the river but we have crossed the river today because of all of you and persistence of not giving up on the American dream for your child and other children, because we know you cannot live the American dream if you don’t have a quality education,” Patrick said.

In recent weeks, Abbott said it has been the best relationship with chamber leaders he’s had since becoming governor in 2015.

“We know that we want our kids education to match their ambition and their potential is too great to be limited by one size fits all system,” Creighton said. “From here forward, they will have unlimited potential and unlimited options in education to pursue for the rest of their path in education and what their families deem best.”

ESA advocate Shinara Morrison and Joel Enge, the director of Kingdom Life Academy in Tyler, also joined Abbott for the signing.

Students participating in the ESA program will begin enrolling in the 2026-27 school year. SB 2 allocates $1 billion to an ESA program over the next two years. Those accounts use taxpayer money to help families pay for private school tuition and education expenses such as books, transportation and uniforms.

The amount of each account is equal to 85% of what public schools receive in per-student funding from the state. That comes out to around $10,900. Students with disabilities would get as much as $30,000, and home-school students could get $2,000.

There is a $1 billion spending cap for the first two years of a potential school voucher program. 

Students living below the poverty line and children with disabilities are prioritized.

After that, families of four making at or below $62,400 are next in line, followed by higher-income families, and then any leftover slots in the program will be available to any family.

The state would limit funding for students without disabilities and wealthier households – particularly a family of four that makes around $156,000 or greater – to 20% of the program’s total budget for the first school year. 

The program would also prioritize current public school students over private school students.

Despite its passage, the program will take some time to get up and running. The Texas Comptroller is tasked with creating it, and the ESA program will start issuing funds to families in the 2026-27 school year.

The bill requires students take a “nationally recognized” exam, but it does not mandate they take the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, exam, which public school students take every year.

It requires the state to produce an annual report on the program that includes data on things like the demographics of those who participate in it, test results and college or career readiness. 

In 2023, state lawmakers held four special sessions on ESAs. Each proposal faced opposition from Democrats and some rural Republican lawmakers who said a school voucher program would drain more resources from Texas’ already struggling public education system.

Abbott campaigned against and knocked out several lawmakers who did not back ESA legislation in 2023. Then, he launched an all-out pressure campaign on House lawmakers who were on the fence leading up to the vote.

Just down the street, before the bill’s signing, the Texas AFL-CIO held a rally against SB 2. Joined by teachers and public school advocates, opponents called it a “voucher scam” that would take money away from public schools.

“Today is the latest in a series of damn sad days for Texas public schools this session,” said Zeph Capo, president of Texas AFT. “The governor bought himself a Legislature and it’s our kids and our educators who’ll pay the bill – as always. Every laid-off educator and shuttered neighborhood school is Greg Abbott’s handiwork, and the only way back from this self-made disaster is for the millions of Texans who oppose this voucher scam to give him his pink slip at the ballot box.”

The groups unveiled a large banner directly across from the Governor’s Mansion with the words, “Kids & teachers over billionaires (and those that cave to them),” including an image of Abbott behind a pile of money.

“Greg Abbott has chosen his billionaire friends over the kids and teachers of Texas,” said Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy. “People across our state are opposed to this scam that will cut billions from our public schools. I hope this banner across from the Governor’s Mansion is a constant reminder that he will be held accountable.”

Skeptics question the ability to determine who – rich or poor – will get the money.

Critics of the bill worry the ESA program favors wealthier families and will deepen educational disparities.

The Texas Legislature is also working to boost public school funding this session by increasing teacher pay and the basic allotment per student. Abbott did not mention public school funding legislation in his remarks at the signing ceremony, though Lt. Gov. Patrick, who controls the Texas Senate briefly did.

“We are going to make through school choice public schools even more competitive and better,” Patrick said. “It’s not about us against them or them against us all together. We want the best public school system. The highest paid teachers and the best school choice program in the world.”

The Texas House passed House Bill 2, a sweeping $8 billion school funding bill that would raise the base amount of money public schools receive for each student, known as the “basic allotment.” HB 2 would increase the basic allotment by several hundred dollars. Under HB 2, the allotment would be tied to property value growth, meaning it would automatically increase every two years. It is currently sitting in a Senate committee awaiting a hearing.

Democratic state lawmakers said they are concerned Patrick won’t take any action on the bill in the final days of the legislative session, effectively killing the school finance bill.

Rep. Gene Wu (D-Houston), who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, said the public school system is on the verge of collapse and hanging on to a cliff by its fingernails.

“I don’t care if you’re a Democrat or Republican in the bill, I don’t care who you are. If you believe in Texas, if you believe in our public schools, if you want to fix our neighborhoods, if you want life to be better for our communities, you have to fight now,” Wu said. “You have to tell the people in those buildings. Stop giving stuff away to billionaires. They have enough. Where’s our stuff? Where’s the stuff for local schools? Where’s the stuff for our teachers? Where’s the stuff for us?”

Wu continued, “If we don’t stand up and say we demand you fix the public school system, they will never do it. They won’t watch it slide into the ocean because that’s what they want. They would rather watch our society collapse than to pay a few more dollars in taxes.”

The Senate has already passed several school funding bills, although none of them increase the basic allotment. Instead, the Senate passed a bill to boost the Teacher Incentive Program and increase teacher pay.

Rep. Gina Hinajosa (D-Austin) said the “war” is not over, and vowed Texans would get a chance to have their say.

“While Gov. Abbott may have blocked an opportunity that we tried to push to empower Texans across the state to have the vote on whether or not we would have vouchers in Texas, there will be a vote on vouchers,” Hinajosa said. “It will be in November 2026.”