On January 29th, 2025, the Texas Senate Education Committee voted on Senate Bill 2, moving it out of committee and onto the Senate floor for full Senate vote. The vote was 9-2 along party lines.
S.B. 2 is designed to establish educational savings accounts, and we’re not loving it.
Read the full text of the bill for yourself.
What is Senate Bill 2?
SB 2 aims to create an education savings account program, ostensibly to provide more educational choices for Texas families – but does it achieve that goal?
Here’s How It Works:
Creation of Accounts: The Texas Comptroller will oversee a new “headmaster” role, managing accounts where funds are allocated for educational expenses.
Funding Structure: Instead of reducing property taxes to allocate these funds directly to parents, the state creates a new pot of money through a fund managed by the Comptroller, which includes general revenue and potential donations.
Usage Restrictions: Parents must use these funds only for pre-approved educational services or products, as decided by the Comptroller with assistance from up to five corporate vendors.
Implications for Homeschool Families
From a homeschool parent perspective, several aspects of SB 2 raise concerns:
Limited Autonomy: The bill, as noted by Bill Peacock, states, “Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar will in effect become the new headmaster of students enrolled in the school choice program envisioned under SB 2.” (source) This suggests a significant government oversight over what should be a personal choice in education. The requirement to use only pre-approved vendors or services directly contradicts the libertarian ideal of educational freedom and parental choice.
Bureaucratic Oversight: The involvement of the Comptroller in choosing educational vendors and the necessity for annual assessments (nationally norm-referenced or state-required) impose a regulatory burden not aligned with the principles of minimal government intervention in education.
Financial Control: Rather than giving families direct control over educational funds through mechanisms like tax credits, the state retains control over how and where the money is spent. This centralization of funding decisions is contrary to what most homeschoolers support, desiring decentralized, family-driven educational choices.
Prioritization and Access
Withdrawal Prioritization: The bill prioritizes funding for students withdrawing from public schools for the first time, followed by low-income families and then those with disabilities, which might skew the benefits away from long-standing homeschool families or those not recently in public education.
Income-Based Allocation: There’s a focus on aiding low-income households, which while beneficial for those families, could potentially create a system where educational funding is more government-controlled rather than parent-driven.
Rules and Assessments
Mandatory Assessments: Homeschool families must agree to administer yearly assessments, which could be seen as an unnecessary regulatory overreach, potentially infringing on educational freedom.
Vendor Approval: Families must navigate a list of pre-approved providers, which not only limits options but also increases dependency on state approval for educational resources.
The New Pot of Money
Creation of a Fund: Instead of freeing up property taxes, giving tax exemptions, or using similar mechanisms, SB 2 seems to create a new fund. This could lead to increased government spending with strings attached, contrary to libertarian ideals of reducing government expenditure and control.
Potential for Expansion: With this new fund, there’s a risk of future expansions in government oversight, possibly affecting educational content and methods.
For freedom-minded homeschool families, SB 2 doesn’t appear to genuinely promote educational freedom. The bill might seem like an expansion of choice but comes with significant government oversight and control over educational funds and methods.
It’s crucial for families to understand these implications:
If Governor Abbott declares it an emergency item, we could see rapid changes!
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The Homeschool Freedom Coalition is dedicated to keeping homeschool families nationwide up to date and helping them flex their political muscle when bad bills are filed — or when good bills need to get moving!
Any education reform should genuinely support parental autonomy and does not just shift control from one government entity to another.
This bill, if passed, could set precedents for how educational funding is managed in Texas, potentially undermining the libertarian ethos of self-directed education.
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Jessica Lovett, Executive Director of Communications for the Homeschool Freedom Coalition, is a passionate advocate for homeschooling and parental rights, drawing from her extensive experience supporting homeschool families through working with non-profit organizations, one-on-one coaching, hosting webinars, creating resources, and publishing articles for over a decade.
