“One of the Strongest School Choice Bills in Our Nation’s History”
AUSTIN, Texas — After House Bill 3, the Texas House’s proposal to expand education opportunity through a universal school choice program, was filed last week, parental empowerment advocacy groups are praising the historic efforts. HB 3 by Representative Brad Buckley complements the Texas House’s omnibus school finance bill, HB 2, and invests $1 billion toward education savings accounts, prioritizing students from low-income households or who have disabilities, among other provisions.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT THE HOUSE’S SCHOOL CHOICE LEGISLATION:
“Thanks to the leadership of Speaker Burrows and Chairman Buckley, the Texas House has proposed one of the strongest school choice bills in our nation’s history. Building upon the Senate’s excellent work, HB 3 would create the largest day-one school choice program in American history. Texas’s school choice legislation continues to improve at every stage in the legislative process. We look forward to working with legislators to bring a school choice bill to Governor Abbott’s desk.” —Nathan Cunneen, American Federation for Children, Texas State Director
“I’m incredibly excited, not just about House Bill 3’s universal ESAs, but with how quickly and decisively the House is moving on parent empowerment this year. House Bill 3 will provide meaningful options to the parents and children of Texas.” —Greg Sindelar, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Chief Executive Officer
“This is a fantastic bill for the parents and children of Texas. Every child deserves access to an education that fits their unique needs, and House Bill 3 provides exactly that. It is time to empower parents!” —Mandy Drogin, Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Next Generation Campaign Director
“Texas families delivered a clear mandate for passing universal school choice in the November elections, and the Texas Legislature listened. Thanks to Speaker Burrows, this monumental legislation will create an education ecosystem where every kind of student and school can thrive. We’re especially glad to see the bill’s responsible funding from the state budget surplus and its provision for low-income and disabled students, who will get the first tickets to schools that can meet their needs. This bill’s passage will be a tide-change for school choice in America. Texas will show the nation how empowering parents and students over systems is the only way forward.” —Genevieve Collins, Americans for Prosperity-Texas, State Director
“The Texas Catholic Bishops strongly support House Bill 3 because it meets all of our criteria for an effective parental choice program. We appreciate the strong accreditation and accountability safeguards, the prioritization of low-income students, and students with a disability, as well as the strong religious liberties language. We are very grateful to Speaker Burrows and Chairman Buckley for their work on this important legislation.” —Jennifer Allmon, Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, Executive Director
“Upon passage of HB 3, Texas will advance education freedom. Parents will be able to choose a school based on their child’s unique needs regardless of their zip code or financial status. With $1 billion set aside in the budget, HB 3 has the potential to be the largest first year school choice program in the Nation. EdChoice thanks the leaders of Texas for recognizing the importance of education freedom for all families.” —Robert Enlow, EdChoice, President and CEO
“The Texas Private Schools Association notes that HB 3 meets all of our support requirements: including prioritizing low-income families and children with special needs and important religious liberty and private school autonomy language. We will be testifying in strong support of HB 3 and we thank Chairman Buckley for the hard work of putting together a bill that will lead to a successful program that gives families in Texas more educational options.” —Laura Colangelo, Texas Private Schools Association, Executive Director
“We commend Texas leaders for making parental choice in education a top priority for this session. Texas is poised to create a historic and transformational education savings account program that would be one of the largest in the country as soon as it’s passed. It’s life-changing for students to have access to educational opportunities that meet their needs, and we look forward to seeing this effort continue through the legislative process.” —Patrica Levesque, ExcelinEd in Action, Executive Director