The 2025 Texas Legislative Session: Vouchers and Defunding Public Education

On January 14, the Texas state legislature reconvened for its 89th legislative session. The pre-filed legislation reveals that members are prioritizing a variety of issues, especially vouchers that would reduce funding for public schools.

Vouchers and Educational “Savings” Accounts are not a new topic of concern in Texas. In previous legislative sessions, conservative lawmakers unsuccessfully introduced bills that would have defunded public education in favor of private and charter schools. These past bills failed because some Republicans were hesitant to remove funding for public schools in rural areas, which are highly dependent on government funds to ensure adequate teaching and learning. As the nation sees a sharp increase in book bans throughout public schools and libraries, one of the driving forces behind them is the defunding of public education to limit access to information. 

In fact, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has named private school vouchers his top priority during this legislative session. Some pre-filed bills that may create voucher programs include:

• HB212: AN ACT relating to the establishment of a parental empowerment program administered by the comptroller of public accounts.
• HB612: Relating to the establishment of an education savings account program, an insurance premium tax credit for contributions made for purposes of that program, and the award of attorney's fees in actions challenging certain educational choice laws.
•  HB1657: Relating to the establishment of an education savings account program for certain children.
• HB984: AN ACT relating to the establishment of an empowerment scholarship account program.
• HB1278: Relating to creation and funding of professional charter academies which are owned and operated by highly qualified teaching professionals in Texas and authorizing the commissioner of education to adopt rules to administer and fund the professional charter academy program.

Public education is an essential part of community development across Texas, and taking away funding for public schools would have detrimental effects on the most vulnerable populations within the state, including BIPOC and immigrant communities and rural communities which may not have the existing infrastructure to support private and charter schools. 

Reach out to your legislators to take action to protect public education and the freedom to read. 

Download our complete report to learn more about the 2025 Texas legislative session and the legislative bills attacking libraries.