In the past decade, Texas has witnessed an alarming surge in government education spending and school property taxes. Between 2012 and 2022, funding for Texas government schools skyrocketed by 73%—a staggering $32.3 billion—while school property taxes increased even more dramatically, up 91% ($20.9 billion). Yet, despite this influx of taxpayer dollars, fewer than half of Texas students can read, write, or compute at grade level. Our children are trapped in failing schools with little hope of a brighter future.
Money has no correlation to student success in government-run schools. The more we spend, the worse the outcomes seem to get. Government schools never have enough of your money, and the proof is in the numbers: despite pouring billions into the system and massively increasing per-student funding, Texas has never seen improvement in student achievement.
The solution to this crisis is school choice, a system that would introduce free-market competition into Texas K-12 education and empower parents to select better-performing schools for their children. Unfortunately, in 2023, a majority of the Texas Legislature turned a blind eye to parents’ needs, repeatedly opposing efforts to expand school choice. Instead, lawmakers opted for a flawed plan that funneled billions more taxpayer dollars into failing government education without addressing the pressing need for alternative options.
As a former Republican member of the Texas Senate, I was among the first to author and file a universal school choice bill to empower parents. This bill passed out of the Senate under Lt. Governor Dan Patrick’s conservative leadership, but tragically, it, along with countless other education freedom bills, died in the Texas House. Texas politicians need to recognize that they serve voters, not school boards or education unions. The backlash against those Republicans who voted against school choice is why many of them will not return to Austin in 2024. It’s time to prioritize parental choice and student success.
I trust millions of parents to make the best decisions for their children, just as we trust millions of consumers to make the best decisions about what benefits them. We must learn to trust parents, the true consumers of education, more than we trust government bureaucracies. A system that puts parents in charge will always outperform a government monopoly.
For school choice to be effective, it must meet three critical criteria:
- Empower Parents: Education Savings Accounts should allow parents to tailor educational services to their child’s unique needs. This means enabling families to select from various options, including government schools, private institutions, virtual education, tutoring, special education, or homeschooling. Parents know their children best and should be in charge of their education.
- Universal Eligibility: Every Texas child should have the right to participate in school choice programs. Past legislative plans have been misleadingly labeled as “universal,” yet they included funding limitations that would restrict many students’ access. Every child deserves the opportunity to escape failing government schools and the indoctrination that sometimes accompanies them.
- Foster Free-Market Competition and Reduce Costs: Competition drives quality and reduces costs. Unfortunately, recent legislative proposals increased educational expenses despite a funding model that offered $10,000 per student for school choice compared to the $17,966 spent on government schools. Instead of compensating districts for students they are not educating, we should implement a universal school choice plan that saves taxpayers money.
The future of Texas education hinges on our ability to break free from government chains. To create a brighter future for our children, we must empower parents, ensure universal access, and foster free-market competition. In this upcoming legislative session, let’s take the necessary steps to make education in Texas a free-market environment so that it will self-correct to perfection and ensure its survival.