With school vouchers on the horizon in Texas, Houston-area families offer varying opinions

Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church Votes for Tolliver — Ashley Tolliver, right, walks with her son Nasir to Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church to cast her vote during early voting on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.

Editor’s note: This is the second of two stories about school vouchers and the election. Read the first here.

Keith Hankins doesn’t want to see a school voucher program implemented in Texas.

The resident of Brenham, about 75 miles northwest of Houston, said diverting taxpayer dollars from public schools would harm districts like Brenham ISD, which he said are “very important to society.” He also said the voucher program proposed by Texas lawmakers last year, which would have given families more than $10,000 per student to spend on a variety of education expenses, would not be enough to cover private education in many cases.

Hankins had a chance to express that view with his vote in Texas House District 12, which pits anti-voucher Democrat Dee Howard Mullins against Republican Trey Wharton, who was endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott during the March primary as part of a quest to bring more voucher-friendly lawmakers to Austin. But before walking into the Washington County Courthouse Annex to cast his vote last week, Hankins said he planned to vote for Wharton because he is generally politically conservative and generally more aligned with him.

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“That’s just one of many problems,” Hankins said. “And when you take stock, you have to vote on what you agree with most. While I don’t agree with school vouchers, I’m not just going to vote on that one issue.”

Dozens of early voters in Houston, Brenham and Pearland — where a new state House seat is at stake after anti-voucher Republican Rep. Ed Thompson decided not to run again, as did Rep. Kyle Kacal in District 12 — said the issue of the vouchers ‘It doesn’t have much influence on the way they vote. But the results of the Nov. 5 election could affect whether lawmakers will pass a bill early next year during the next legislative session, or what type of program will be adopted.

After 21 Republicans in the House of Representatives, largely from rural areas with few private schools, sided with Democrats to block a voucher proposal last year, Abbott went after dissenting Republicans by backing a series of pro-voucher challengers. Fifteen of them lost their primaries or did not stand for re-election.

Few of those districts in the House of Representatives are in play for anti-voucher Democrats, largely because they are Republican, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.

Early voting West Grey — Voters walk toward the polling station at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center in Houston on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.

“We will see vouchers pass in some form,” he said. “It may not be comprehensive. It may not be that they spend tens of millions of dollars on it. But there will be some kind of voucher program that the state of Texas will try.”

A total of 33 US states offer voucher-like programs. Most prioritize low-income students in struggling public schools or students with disabilities or special needs. Some programs, such as those in Arizona, are available to all students, with no limit on the number of students who can benefit from them.

Many of the voters and residents interviewed by Houston Public Media were not well informed about the issue. A majority said they would be open to a program that helps families with limited resources get better educational opportunities, but not to an initiative that gives money to families who can already afford private school.

“If it’s someone who has the resources, I don’t think it’s fair or right,” said Houston resident Veronica Zarate, whose son attends public school. “But if it’s low-income people who can get a better education, I think that’s a good thing.”

Two organizations that advocate for private schools in the Houston area and across the state echoed that sentiment. Laura Colangelo of the Texas Private Schools Association, which represents nearly 950 parochial and secular schools serving more than 300,000 students, and Jennifer Allmon of the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, which advocates for more than 230 Catholic schools serving more than 61,000 students, said they support the education savings accounts that state lawmakers proposed last year.

Allmon and Colangelo both said such a program would boost enrollment and give more families access to private education.

“It has to prioritize the poor,” Allmon said. “We are not interested in supporting a bill that is intended to give rich people discounts. That is not the fundamental teaching of the church.”

But Superintendent Scott Sheppard of Huntsville ISD, which is part of House District 12, says it’s a misconception that vouchers could mean upward mobility for low-income families. While some private schools in the Houston area charge less than $10,000 annually for tuition, other schools charge up to two or three times that amount.

Sheppard also said private schools in Texas should not be held to the same state accountability standards as their public counterparts. And they can be selective in who they allow.

Voting at the Tom Reid Library — Voters wait in line at the Tom Reid Library in Pearland, Texas, on Tuesday, October 22, 2024.

“On the surface it might sound like a great idea,” Sheppard said. “But the reality is that it wouldn’t necessarily open up better educational opportunities for all children, as some people might think.”

Sheppard and two other Houston-area superintendents, Anthony Mays of Alief ISD and Larry Berger of Pearland ISD, said they are concerned that a voucher program would further limit resources allocated to Texas public schools. State lawmakers have not increased the per-pupil allocation amount for public schools, $6,160, since 2019.

Stagnant state funding, combined with inflation, is leaving these districts and many others facing budget crises. Sheppard said Abbott has “held the funding hostage.”

“He publicly stated last session that he would not increase funding for public schools unless the Legislature approved vouchers,” Sheppard said. “He said he has no intention of adequately funding public schools unless he gets his way. If he prevails in this election cycle, it won’t be a very fair fight.”

Some local families who could benefit from a voucher program said they weren’t interested. Stefanie Ford, a Pearland resident, homeschools her son but said she wouldn’t take voucher money to cover her expenses. She said it’s “super important” that that money stays in public schools.

Viula Torgerson, whose sons attend a private Montessori school in Houston, echoed that sentiment.

“We all benefit from an educated population, no matter which route you take,” she said. “My tax dollars belong in public schools, not private schools – and certainly not parochial schools.”

Voting at the Washington County Courthouse — Campaign signs hang in the grass outside the Washington County Courthouse in Brenham, Texas, on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.

But there are also public school parents who support a voucher program, like Pearland resident Jason McClure and Brenham resident Thiess Cunningham.

“I should be able to take my tax dollars and my child wherever I want,” McClure said.

Ashley Tolliver is an unassuming ISD graduate whose three-year-old son attends a private Catholic school in Houston’s predominantly Black Third Ward neighborhood. She said she spends almost $800 a month on tuition and would “absolutely” want help covering those costs.

Her son has been in private school since August.

“You can see the difference: the yes-ma’ams and the no-ma’ams, how smart he is and the things he notices,” Tolliver said. “The things he says compared to someone I know, her kid doesn’t know as much as him, and they’re the same age.”

Berger and Sheppard spoke out in favor of their public school systems, which they said have a broader range of educational and extracurricular services than most private schools. They wouldn’t necessarily see a drop in enrollment if a voucher program were created, they said, but they worry about a possible drop in state funding.

Regardless of the election outcome, and whoever heads to Austin when the next legislative session takes place in January, Berger said he hopes elected officials will consider a wide range of Texas students along with their educational needs.

“All I’m asking is that as legislators do this, they listen to their communities and what their communities want,” Berger said. “Do what is best for all students, not just those who want a private education, but also those who are still in public education.”