Elon Musk's name comes up in debate over school choice bill before it advances to full Texas House

CBS News

03-04-2025

A bill that would spend $1 billion in tax dollars to send students to private schools in Texas is headed to the full House. On Thursday afternoon, the
House Public Education Committee voted out the school choice measure, 9-6 along party lines
. No word yet on how quickly the full House will debate the legislation.
Much of the debate on school choice centers around which students are eligible to receive public money and how much.
Under the House bill voted out of committee many students accepted into the program will receive $10,000 per year to attend an accredited private school. Students with disabilities will receive more than that, perhaps up to $30,000 based on their needs. Home-schooled students would get $2,000.
The program will be capped at $1 billion during the first year, which is the 2026-27 school year.
Forecasts by the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) show by 2030, the cost to taxpayers per year could climb to around $4 billion.
But in response to a question by CBS News Texas during a news conference last week,
Gov. Greg Abbott said that the LBB's estimates are "based on fiction"
and that the legislature will determine the program's budget in future years.
Republicans said, under their bill, low-income students and those with disabilities are prioritized. However, it is a universal program, meaning any student is eligible.
State Rep.James Talarico, D-Austin, said that includes billionaire Elon Musk's children.
"I know Elon Musk is a somewhat humorous example, but wealthy parents, whether the richest man in the world or just a family making over $500,000 a year, they have access to this program," said Talarico. "But it is not limited to the family you just mentioned."
But State Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Salado, who is Chairman of the Public Education Committee, rejected Talarico's argument.
"I don't know the circumstances of every family," said Buckley. "I don't know their tax returns and I don't know the particular challenges a child is having. But what I do know is that when you put choice in the hands of the parents, they'll make the right call and I think the circumstance in which they make that will look different from family to family."
Other Democratic lawmakers criticized the school choice bill saying it would lead to unaccredited private schools.
"This voucher bill will eventually destroy public schools," Rep. Alma Allen, D-Houston said. "I give it 10 years, five sessions from now. Once you open the box, many of these will pop up, and will eventually destroy our public schools."
"The bill requires the schools to be accredited and that's a process and it's in the bill," Buckley responded. "There will not be any pop-up schools."
Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls disagreed with Allen.
"The studies all show public school improvement, academic performance improves," said Frank. "The idea that things are going to completely fall apart, I understand people don't like the bill, but the idea this will destroy public schools is to me fear-mongering."
When the debate on this bill makes it to the House floor, Democrats will try to kill it. Abbott and Speaker Dustin Burrows remain confident they've got more than the 76 votes needed to pass the school choice bill in the House.
The Public Education Committee also passed the school funding bill by a margin of 13-2. It will include nearly $8 billion in new money. It will raise the basic allotment for school districts, which has been $6,160 since 2019 by $395. That is more than the $220 increase proposed in the original bill. Forty percent of that basic allotment will go toward pay raises for teachers and other staff. The bill will automatically raise the basic allotment in future years.
Watching the debate Thursday afternoon became an issue because the House committee chose not to livestream the meeting as is normally the case. CBS News Texas livestreamed the meeting. Watch it in its entirety below:
Watch
Eye On Politics at 7:30 Sunday morning
on CBS News Texas on air and streaming