House strikes vouchers from Texas education bill. How Tarrant County lawmakers voted.

Lawmakers in the Texas House of Representatives, including five representing Tarrant County, voted Friday to strip a voucher-like program from a wide-ranging education bill.

For months, Gov. Greg Abbott has called on lawmakers to pass education savings accounts, which would let parents use public tax dollars on their child’s private education. He and other supporters of the policy say parents should have a choice on where to send their kids to school.

But the program has faced opposition in the House from Democrats and some Republicans who say the program would hurt public schools.

Lawmakers on Friday began their debate on the legislation that, among other provisions, would give students about $10,500 in tax dollars each year for private school tuition or other expenses. Home-schooled students could get $1,000.

Early in the debate, Rep. John Raney, a College Station Republican, filed an amendment to have the section of the bill creating education savings accounts taken out of the bill. Arlington Republican Rep. Tony Tinderholt was unsuccessful in an attempt to strike down the proposal through a procedural maneuver.

Ultimately, lawmakers voted 84-63 to remove the program from the bill.

The Friday vote was perhaps the biggest test yet of how vouchers would fare in the Texas House. House Bill 1 made it further than any other proposal thus far. Lawmakers are in their fourth special session, two of which have included education savings accounts on the agenda.

Abbott, in a Friday statement, said he’s not done pushing for the program.

“Today’s vote is just another step on the path to provide school choice for parents and students across Texas,” Abbott said. “I will continue advancing school choice in the Texas Legislature and at the ballot box, and will maintain the fight for parent empowerment until all parents can choose the best education path for their child. I am in it to win it. “

The Tarrant County delegation’s vote fell largely on party lines, with its four Democratic members — Rep. Nicole Collier of Fort Worth, Rep. Chris Turner of Arlington, Rep. Salman Bhojani of Euless and Rep. Ramon Romero of Fort Worth — voting to strike the voucher-like policy.

“This vote represents our collective commitment to a public education system that serves all students, rather than diverting essential resources towards vouchers to benefit a select few,” Collier said in a statement.

Joining them was Fort Worth Republican Charlie Geren, along with 20 other Republicans from across the state.

Geren said he’s consistently opposed vouchers.

“I think it’s funding that doesn’t need to leave public schools,” he said after Friday’s vote.

Republicans Reps. Giovanni Capriglione of Southlake, David Cook of Mansfield, Craig Goldman of Fort Worth, Stephanie Klick of Fort Worth, Nate Schatzline of Fort Worth and Tony Tinderholt of Arlington voted to keep education savings accounts in the bill.

Schatzline advocated for educations savings accounts from the House floor as lawmakers debated the program. Friday’s vote effectively killed “education freedom” and additional funding for public schools, he said in a post on X.

“I believe this bill is anti-freedom, anti-parental empowerment and anti-Texas,” Schatzline said during the bill debate.

Abbott has previously said he’ll continue to call lawmakers back for more special sessions if legislation with the program doesn’t make it to his desk, something Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare said he’d support in a social media post.

“School Choice must pass in Texas,” O’Hare said on X. “If the House doesn’t approve a good bill this session, @GovAbbott should absolutely keep bringing them back until they do.”

Beyond creating education savings accounts, the bill includes measures related to school funding and teacher pay, school accountability and special education.

It increases the base amount that schools get per student to $6,700 and includes a $4,000 bonus for full time teachers, nurses, counselors, and librarians in the 2023-2024 school year. Those raises would be continued in the next school year with the increased per-student funding, according to a bill summary.

Educator groups have pushed for teacher pay raises in a legislative year with a hefty budget surplus, but have been insistent that the extra dollars should not be used as a bargaining chip for vouchers.

Clay Robison, a spokesperson for the Texas State Teachers Association, said in a text ahead of the vote that the group would still oppose the legislation even with the voucher-like program removed because the funding and teacher pay raises are inadequate.

The bill’s author, Rep. Brad Buckley, a Killeen Republican, opted to send the bill back to committee after the vote striking education savings accounts. Buckley doesn’t plan to hold another hearing on the bill, he told the Texas Tribune.

A request for comment sent to Buckley’s office was not immediately returned Friday.

Democrats were united in their vote opposing the education savings accounts and cheered the outcome in a news conference. Romero of Fort Worth said he wasn’t surprised by the vote. And if lawmakers are brought back again, the measure will again fail in the House, he predicted.

“If he wants to do it, at some point, he’s the one that begins to lose political capital, and people start looking at him for what he really is,” Romero said. “He’s a bully.”

Cook of Mansfield, who voted to keep the education savings account language in the bill, also said he wasn’t surprised that education savings accounts were removed from the bill.

“I’m just still focused on increasing the basic allotment and teacher pay raises, and those types of things,” he said. “I want to do anything I can do to help bring more dollars to the classroom.”

The Senate has already approved a separate education savings account bill, which allocates $8,000 to students for private education and other costs.

“I am stunned that 21 House Republicans would continue to fight against parents and deny them the right to choose a school they think is best for their child,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a Friday statement shared on X.

The special session began Nov. 7 and can last up to 30 days.