Texas Comptroller Don Huffines is asking state legislators to double the private school voucher program to $2 billion.
More than 100,000 students are still on the wait list for vouchers, also known as Texas Education Freedom Accounts or TEFA, driving the need for expansion. In its inaugural year, the program received more than 270,000 applications, of which 248,000 were deemed eligible, well exceeding the program’s capacity.
"This is the longest school choice waitlist in the country," Travis Pillow, a spokesperson for the program, said in a legislative hearing Wednesday morning. "The comptroller’s office hears constantly from Texas families who are eager to apply when the opportunity becomes available."
Pillow said the program needs another $980 million to satisfy those on the waitlist and another $82 million for the newly eligible siblings of students already enrolled in the program. That's in additionto the $1 billion the legislature allocated last year.
As many as 4,000 eligible students are expected to upgrade from home school vouchers valued at around $2,000 to private school vouchers worth roughly $10,000. As such, the program's leaders are also asking for additional funding to cover those students.
They're also preparing for changes in how much funding special education students are entitled to, as well as any rise in statewide per-student funding from the state. Vouchers honor 85% of the funding allocated per student in the public education system.
The comptroller’s office said it plans to announce the new application window for vouchers in the coming weeks.
"The results so far speak for themselves," Pillow said. "TEFA is the largest and most successful year-one school choice program in U.S. history and already the second largest education savings account."
But several critics argued during the hearing that more evidence is needed to show vouchers are actually delivering on their promises before lawmakers can justify expanding the program.
Dee Carney, director for the Texas Center for Voucher transparency, an independent watchdog group tracking the voucher program, urged lawmakers to require a comprehensive assessment of the program. She noted the comptroller's request for additional funding did not include money for an evaluation, which is required by state law.
"Before committing billions more, legislators and Texans need to know whether TEFA is delivering on the promises made to taxpayers this school year, not in five years," Carney said. "Legislators need to look beyond the waitlist and understand who the TEFA voucher program is serving."
Advocates of the voucher program argue it offers low-income households the opportunity to explore educational alternatives to their local public school. However, according to data released by the comptroller's office approximately70% of awardeeswere previously enrolled in private school or home schooled.
Concerns also persist over how and if the program is delivering accommodations entitled to special education students. Unlike public schools, private schools are not under any state or federal obligation to accept students with disabilities or provide any necessary modifications for the students. Students who utilize special education services can qualify for as much as $30,000 in vouchers to cover additional services the school may be asked to provide, but there is little structured oversight to ensure the private schools are delivering those additional costly services.
The comptroller's office has previously promised to investigate any concerns from families that believe their child is not being provided necessary accommodations.
Steven Aleman, a policy specialist with the group Disability Rights Texans, spoke against expanding the program, highlighting the comptroller's request for additional funding based on the needs of students with disabilities.
"It's not really congruent with what we are learning," Aleman said. "There is still a lot of need for data and exploration and examination of the data, but from what we are hearing anecdotally from families is they are struggling to find private schools that will accept them, let alone provide special education services or even accommodations."
The voucher program also said they're bracing for an uptick in applications from students with special education needs. The program asked for more than $200 million in order to accommodate 15,000 participating students they expect to file new special education documentation next year. Currently just 7,000 students in the voucher program and attending private schools have documentation indicating a disability.
Aleman said some families have returned their TEFA account money because they could not find resources suitable for their children with disabilities
Over the next few years, it's possible the voucher program budget could expand to more than $4 billion. Carrie Griffiths, the executive director of Our Schools Our Democracy, warned the associated management costs of the program could also balloon to hundreds of millions of dollars.
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