Over the past two weeks, the Texas House has witnessed dramatic and defining developments in the fight over school finance and the introduction of private school vouchers. Behind every headline was a storm of political pressure, national interference, and an increasingly splintered GOP caucus. Here’s your behind-the-scenes breakdown.
Breaking Down the Historic Passage of Private School Vouchers
In a stunning turn, the Texas House has approved Senate Bill 2, establishing a $1 billion private school voucher program. The 86-61 vote marked the first time since 1957 that the House endorsed using public funds for private education. The program, as written now, prioritizes low-income families and students with disabilities, enabling them to use taxpayer dollars for private tuition and related expenses. However, the bill still allows families at or above 500% of the federal poverty guidelines to qualify for a taxpayer-funded coupon for private schools.
But this wasn’t just a legislative shift — it was the culmination of months of aggressive political pressure. Gov. Greg Abbott made SB 2 the litmus test for Republican loyalty, spending unprecedented political capital to install voucher-aligned candidates during the 2024 primaries. He didn’t stop there.
In the final days leading up to the vote, Abbott personally called hesitant lawmakers into his office, pressing them to “stand with parents” or risk political exile. Multiple Republican members reported threats to veto local funding priorities or withhold endorsements in 2026. Some even said they were warned their primary challengers were already being recruited.
And in a truly unprecedented move, President Donald Trump phoned in during a closed-door GOP caucus meeting the day before the vote. His message: “Support school choice or face MAGA wrath.” Caucus members later described the call as “intense” and “clearly orchestrated” to move votes.
Abbott and Trump’s tag-team approach worked. Enough pressure cracked the firewall that had held strong for years, handing the governor a narrow but symbolic victory.
Democrats didn’t go quietly. They filed nearly 50 amendments to SB 2 in an effort to soften its impact or highlight its hypocrisy. Amendments included:
- Requiring private schools receiving voucher funds to administer STAAR tests
- Preventing public officials from enrolling their children in the program
- Mandating financial transparency for voucher recipients
- Ensuring public school funding does not decline due to the voucher scam
All were tabled by Republicans.
Rep. James Talarico’s boldest proposal — to put the entire voucher program on the November ballot — came within four votes of passage. Only former House Speaker Dade Phelan joined Democrats in support. The amendment’s near-success exposed lingering discomfort with vouchers, even among Republicans who ultimately voted yes.
Passage of House Bill 2 on Public School Finance
Amid the voucher firestorm, the House also passed House Bill 2 — a $7.7 billion public school funding package — with bipartisan support (142-5). The bill increases the basic allotment by $395 per student, funds targeted teacher raises, and establishes a student-based funding model for special education. It also tightens rules around the employment of uncertified teachers.
Still, educators and allied lawmakers have legitimate concerns. HB 2 falls short of restoring inflation-adjusted funding to 2019 levels, and the new teacher raise structure leaves many classroom teachers and support staff behind. As Talarico said on the floor: “We’re not just underfunding our future — we’re doing it knowingly.”
Texas AFT continues to lead the fight against school privatization schemes. We’ve called out SB 2 as what it is: a vendor bill backed by billionaires, not Texas families. Likewise, we support the progress made in HB 2 but have made it clear: our public schools need more than crumbs.
Texas AFT members have flooded legislative offices with calls and turned out in force at Capitol hearings. We are not stopping now. We can’t stop now; there’s still too much left to fight for — and against.
In addition to Aldine AFT and Texas AAUP-AFT members showing up to testify at committee hearings this past week, leaders from the Houston Federation of Teachers and McAllen AFT made office visits to lawmakers, including Rep. Aicha Davis and Rep. Oscar Longoria (pictured above), to urge them to help move forward bills aligned with our Educator’s Bill of Rights.
What’s Next at the Legislature
With SB 2 and HB 2 now passed by the House, the bills head to the Senate for final negotiations. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Sen. Brandon Creighton have already urged the Senate to adopt the House’s version of the voucher bill to avoid a conference committee. Gov. Abbott has signaled he’ll sign SB 2 immediately upon it hitting his desk.
Texas AFT will be watching every step and mobilizing educators across the state to hold lawmakers accountable. Our message is simple: You may have the votes now, but we have the people.
Stay tuned. Stay fired up. Stay in the fight.
Speaking of staying in the fight, we also know the House Public Education Committee will hear HB 4 this coming Tuesday; HB 4 is Commissioner Mike Morath’s hand-crafted rewrite of STAAR and accountability. And you guessed it: it makes it easier for him to take over your school districts.
Want to weigh in? Head to the Texas House’s public comment portal this weekend or on Monday. We encourage you to write about your experience with the STAAR test and to express your unhappiness about the recent A-F rankings debacle. We have instructions for how to submit public comments here, as well as a flier you can share with your friends, families, and colleagues to help them submit comments too.
If you’re willing and able, we also encourage you to come down to the Capitol in Austin on Tuesday and testify in person.
Meanwhile in the House Public Education Committee …
It is safe to say that after last week, public education advocates needed some brighter moments. Though there are a few bills to take exception with, but this week, the House Public Education Committee agenda contained some of those bright spots.
Two Aldine AFT members testified this week in support of HB 178, related to ethnic studies courses in high school social studies. This is the third go-round for this bill, which would allow courses like Mexican American Studies and African American Studies to fulfill graduation requirements. To date, these courses have existed as electives only. We are hopeful that the positive conversation in the hearing room will lead to expanded student choice and the chance for more students to see themselves reflected in their curriculum.
The committee also voted out several bill that Texas AFT supports and are aligned with our Educator’s Bill of Rights, including:
- HB 1368 by Rep. Venton Jones is a Texas AFT priority bill and would require parent notification if a public school does not have a nurse, counselor, or librarian assigned to the school during all instructional hours.
- HB 1773 by Rep. Salman Bhojani would allow school district board of trustees to create a nonvoting student trustee position on the board, giving our students’ voice in decisions made about them.
- HB 2107 by Rep. Caroline Fairly would allow districts to set a biannual timeline for annual educator training, reducing the burden on educators in a common-sense fashion.
- HB 3672 by Rep. Trent Ashby would create an extracurricular community education grant program for after-school and summer programs.
And Over in the Senate Education K-16 Committee …
This week, the Texas Senate Education Committee took up SB 1798, and with it, a direct attack on the promise of public education for thousands of Texas “Dreamers,” or Texans who benefit from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy . The bill, which was left pending in committee after a flood of public testimony, would eliminate access to in-state tuition and state financial aid for undocumented students.
It’s a cruel and deeply unnecessary piece of legislation, and Texas AFT is proud to be among the many voices pushing back.
Authored by Sen. Mayes Middleton, SB 1798 would undo over two decades of bipartisan policy that allowed students who graduate from Texas high schools and grow up in our communities to attend college at in-state tuition rates. The bill would also strip them of any state-funded financial aid. In other words: Even if you were raised here, graduated here, and have done everything right, this bill says none of that is enough and it cruelly punishes students.
The testimony in the committee this week made the stakes crystal clear. IDRA’s chief legal analyst Paige Duggins-Clay summed it up best: SB 1798 “reneges on the promise of access to higher education made by our state’s founders.” She noted that the policy it seeks to repeal, Texas’ own Dream Act, was once a national model. Instead of investing in the future of young Texans, this bill would slam the door on them.
TheDream.US, which supports over 2,000 undocumented students in Texas, also submitted written testimony. In it, the organization laid out the real human cost: students working in classrooms, hospitals, tech firms, and nonprofits, all of them giving back to their communities because they were given a shot at college. The data is powerful: 86% of the group’s Texas scholars are first-generation college students, and nearly all are working in high-demand fields like education, health care, and STEM.
The economic damage would be just as severe. Repealing in-state tuition for Dreamers could cost Texas over $460 million every year, from lost wages and lower spending power. That’s money not just taken from students but from our economy, our classrooms, clinics, and communities that rely on their skills and energy.
With that in mind, it’s clear this bill’s intent isn’t about saving money or protecting resources. It’s about making college harder to reach for immigrant students. SB 1798 doesn’t solve a problem; it creates new ones in the form of added barriers for students who’ve already faced more than their share.
As of now, the bill remains pending, but this fight is far from over. Texas AFT stands firm in our opposition to SB 1798, and we encourage our members to keep showing up, testifying, and organizing until this bill is off the table. These students belong here. Their dreams belong here. And we’re not backing down.