The 89th Legislative Session will likely present the best opportunity yet for passage of a major school choice bill that includes Education Savings Accounts with private options.
For more than a decade, the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute (TCCRI) has been a strong advocate for school choice in Texas. In 2023, TCCRI published Outstanding Opportunities: The Case for Education Choice in the Lone Star State (Outstanding Opportunities), which methodically lays out exactly what the title suggests. There is overwhelming data on the benefits and successful outcomes of school choice taken from more than two decades of school choice programs implemented in states all over the nation. That includes improved test scores for both children using choice programs as well as the children who remain in traditional public schools when a choice program is available to them. In other words, choice programs tend to improve education for everyone through competition. It includes positive social outcomes, such as improved racial and ethnic integration, which refutes the oft-repeated falsehood that advocates for school choice have racist ends in mind. It highlights several dozen empirical studies showing that school choice programs are a more efficient way to spend money on education than the traditional approach. Indeed, they tend to produce better outcomes for less money.
It is not enough, however, to make the case for school choice. The shortcomings of the current system are real and can be seen in outcomes data. There is a reluctance to acknowledge these issues, but a problem must be acknowledged in order to be addressed. This paper attempts to do that.
In addition to highlighting the problems associated with the current system, this paper will address the reluctance on the part of its advocates to reform it.
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