This story has been updated.
School vouchers, or education savings accounts, will soon be a reality in Texas thanks to Senate Bill 2, but many questions about how they’ll work remain unanswered.
San Antonio Charter Moms, a nonprofit organization that promotes school choice for local parents, will host a series of town halls to field questions about how families could take advantage of the ESA program.
Signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott during the 89th Texas Legislative Session, the first round of education savings accounts are expected to be used for the 2026-27 school year to cover expenses like private school tuition, therapy, tutoring and other education-related costs, but the specifics remain unknown.
“Right now we have the bill, but we don’t know the rules,” Inga Cotton, founder of SA Charter Moms, said. “The idea is to address the basics so people will be more ready when the time comes.”
Cotton will present and field ESA-related questions at the town halls. About 30 people have already signed up for the first ESA town hall, where Cotton will address who’s eligible for a voucher, who the program prioritizes, what vouchers can be used to pay for, how much participating families can expect to receive and what strings come attached to state money.
Costing taxpayers $1 billion for the program’s first year, state legislators expect less than 100,000 students to be able to use the program.
Using a lottery system with priority levels based on yearly family income and special education needs, families awarded an ESA can expect to receive 85% of what their local school district receives per student in state and local funds. Amounts also change based on the level of a student’s disability and whether they’re homeschooled or not.
On average, school districts in Texas receive about $12,000 per student, meaning the average ESA could be worth around $10,000.
San Antonio area public schools however, usually receive around $10,000 or less in state and local funds per student, meaning the average school voucher in San Antonio could be worth less than vouchers in other parts of Texas.
State legislators recently passed House Bill 2, a public school funding bill that increased the base amount of money per student that schools receive from the state by $55 and added or expanded on other buckets of money schools can pull from based on certain criteria.
ESAs can also be used to pay for private preschool for some children ages 4, but eligibility requirements for families and providers are extensive.
Currently, there is also no comprehensive list from the state outlining which services, providers and private school programs can receive state money from vouchers, though the Texas Education Agency and the state’s comptroller’s office are expected to start smoothing out the program’s details and building a website in September.
The impact of ESAs in San Antonio, a city with a bitter history of voucher experiments and home to more than 100 private schools and several public school districts who’ve had to close campuses due to lower enrollment and looming budget deficits, is especially unclear.
SA Charter Moms will host four town halls on ESAs for free. The first one was from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday, June 12, at St. Mary Magdalen School on 1700 Clower St.
Due to heavy rainfall and unsafe road conditions, SA Charter Moms will hold tonight’s ESA town hall virtually. The organization will be streaming live at 6 p.m. from its Facebook page and YouTube channel.
The other town halls are scheduled for July 10, Aug. 21 and Aug. 28, but locations and times haven’t been announced yet.
Cotton, a longtime parent advocate, said her biggest concern is whether the ESA application system will be user friendly or not, and how well-informed families are in San Antonio.
While there are still several unknowns, Cotton said it’s important to demystify vouchers and know what questions families have early on.
“We have to start somewhere and wrap our heads around it. We want to know what the community is excited and nervous about.”
Clarification: This story has been updated to reflect that House Bill 2 increased the base amount of money that schools receive from the state by $55 per student.
