Texas Spent $1 Billion on School Choice: Why 7 in 10 Recipients Were Already in Private School or Homeschool
Last Tuesday in Lizeth’s kitchen, the waffle had gone cold while she compared the fourth-grade supply list from her zoned elementary with a tuition contract from the private school twenty minutes across town. Her daughter, Mia, sat on the floor with the cat, rereading the same graphic novel she’d finished twice. On Lizeth’s phone was the Texas school-choice application. She thought a state award could change their year: a smaller class, fewer mornings spent coaxing Mia through math tears, maybe a reading teacher who had time to listen.
Then her parent group chat pinged. A homeschool mom wrote that her award had paid for curriculum and a co-op she had already planned to join. Another said tuition was covered for children who had been at the local Catholic school since kindergarten. Lizeth texted back, “I thought this was for people trying to leave public school.” The reply came quickly: “It’s for school choice. We chose school already.”
Her confusion is understandable. Texas put $1 billion behind a school-choice effort, and early numbers showed roughly seven in ten children who received awards were already enrolled in private school or being homeschooled. That does not mean anyone necessarily broke the rules. It shows that the rules were written to subsidize choices many families had already made, not only to create new exits from public school.
An education savings account is different from a scholarship reserved for a student who has just been admitted to a new school. State money can be used for approved private-school tuition, homeschool materials, therapies, and related costs. If a family was already paying those costs, an award mostly fills the gap they were covering themselves.
So what is the program actually for? As it is working now, it functions as several things at once: financial relief for families outside the public system, a way to grow private and homeschool options over time, and a policy statement that education dollars should follow children rather than only go to school districts. It can also help some public-school families switch, especially if they can manage the application, arrange transportation, and find a school that accepts their child. But the early numbers suggest that is not the main effect so far.
That distinction matters at kitchen tables. A state account can make a school look affordable without making it the right fit. Mia’s problem was not simply “public school is bad.” She had experienced two teacher changes, reading groups that seemed to shift without explanation, and mornings when her stomach hurt before school. A different building might help, but only if it had stable staffing and clear reading help.
Lizeth started with a short list. She wrote down what she actually knew: Mia could decode books but froze on longer passages; math tears happened when directions were given once to the whole class; she lit up in small groups. Then Lizeth asked, “If you could keep one part of school and delete one part, what would they be?” Mia kept library and deleted “when everyone shouts out.” That answer told Lizeth more than an online rating.
She called the private school and asked to visit on a regular Tuesday, not only the open house. She wanted to see the fourth-grade classroom, the lunchroom, and the pickup line. Her questions were specific: What reading curriculum do you use? How many minutes a day? How are children grouped, and how often do groups change? If a child is behind, who works with her, and is that included in tuition? What happens when a child refuses work or cries before a test? She also asked about special education. A private school may be kind and flexible, but it does not carry the same legal obligations as a public school IEP. Parents should get answers in writing, not just a warm sentence about how every child is valued.
At her zoned school, Lizeth emailed the counselor and asked for a thirty-minute meeting. She wrote that Mia was below benchmark in reading, anxious during whole-class math, and requested a written plan: intervention minutes, progress checks every two weeks, and a date to review. If a child may need a 504 plan or a special education evaluation, the request should be in writing and dated. That creates a record even if the family later decides to leave.
Then she made a real budget. Tuition was only the first line. Registration, building fees, uniforms, a laptop, field trips, after-care, gas for the twenty-minute drive, and lunches all went into a phone note. She checked which expenses the state account would actually reimburse and whether vendors could change their status. A homeschool co-op might cost less in tuition but require a parent to teach, drive, or pay separately for math and music. The account does not replace lost parental wages.
Her friend Daniel, a public-school teacher, put it plainly. He did not blame any parent for applying. He did ask families not to disappear without saying why. If reading intervention, class size, bullying, or safety is the reason, an email to the principal and school board can name the problem for the children who stay. Schools cannot respond to a rumor; they can respond to a specific request. Teachers also need time to finish progress notes and gather records before a child withdraws.
The larger issue is that “choice” treats money as if it were the only barrier. In Texas, private-school seats are not evenly distributed. Rural areas may have very few options. Transportation can consume an hour each way. A school may not accept a child with dyslexia, autism, or a discipline record. Homeschooling can work well, but it depends on adult time, income, curriculum decisions, and social networks. A $1 billion program can reduce bills without changing those conditions.
Last week, Lizeth did not submit a deposit. She joined the private school’s waiting list, kept her application open, and scheduled the public-school meeting. Mia’s first three days were fine: she liked the librarian and came home talking about a rock experiment. Lizeth knows “fine” can fade by October. The award may still help them switch in January or next fall. It may also turn out that the smaller school has no reading specialist, or that the carline makes their evenings worse.
Across town, her homeschool friend used part of her award for a science co-op and felt seen after years of buying curriculum alone. Both things can be true. The program is helping some families and subsidizing many who were already choosing alternatives. What it has not done is make the actual decision simple. Mia is still a fourth-grader with a cold waffle, a graphic novel, and a school year that has not yet shown what it can do.
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