After eight hours of debate and about 40 proposed amendments, Texas Senate Republicans passed Senate Bill 2 on Wednesday, mostly along party lines, 19-to-12. One Republican voted against it.
The bill would give parents $10,000 in taxpayer money, called education savings accounts, to send their child to a private school.
The bill’s author, State Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-The Woodlands) cited the success of similar programs in other states as an argument to pass the legislation.
“Right now 32 states across America offer expanded school choice,” Creighton said. “If this was truly the end of public education, as some claim, those states would be repealing those programs.”
Senate Democrats questioned whether the plan would help low-income families and argued that vouchers would take money away from already cash-strapped public schools. Democratic State Senator Nathan Johnson voted against the bill, but he agreed with Creighton that Senate Bill 2 wouldn't take down public schools.
“It doesn’t do a whole lot of anything, except take public tax dollars and transfer them to private schools for kids and parents who are already using the private schools," Johnson said.
In his closing remarks, Creighton said students should have educational options beyond the zip codes they live in. He also blasted Democrats for opposing the legislation.
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