SAN ANTONIO —  During his State of the State address, Gov. Greg Abbott made it clear he is laser-focused on Senate Bill 2 during the 89th legislative session. 

What You Need To Know

  • Gov. Abbott's chief priority during the current session of the Texas Legislature is the passage of a school voucher bill

  • The bill would allow parents to use public dollars to send their kids to private schools 

  • Families in Edgewood ISD were given the option to use vouchers 25 years ago

  • Critics and educators say the vouchers cost the school district millions of dollars and many of the families that used them ended up returning to the district 

“I’m declaring that school choice is an emergency item that must pass this session,” Abbott said. 

Senate Bill 2, or school vouchers, would allow public dollars to pay for private school. If passed, Texas students would be eligible for a $10,000 voucher each year to go to the school of their choice.   

“We want every student at every level to have that same opportunity,” Abbott said. 

Aurelio Montemayor says similar promises were made to, but not kept for, Edgewood ISD families 25 years ago. 

“Originally, vouchers were sold as ‘we want to help poor families and we want to give them a raise,’” Montemayor said. “Now it’s real clear that it’s a ploy.” 

Montemayor is the family engagement lead for Intercultural Development Research Association, or IDRA. IDRA is a nonprofit aimed at strengthening public schools through research and policy.

Montemayor was around when a multimillionaire paired with a nonprofit to privately fund Edgewood students to attend private schools via a voucher.

“At that point there were 12,600 students in Edgewood. About 600 families took the vouchers.” Montemayor said. 

That cost the district at least $1.5 million. Cynthia Pena, who taught in Edgewood ISD back then, sent her son to private school. 

“My kids went to Edgewood schools, but my oldest, I did send him to Holy Cross on a voucher,” Pena said. 

When families saw private institutions weren’t obligated to serve special needs or bilingual students, half of them returned to Edgewood. 

“That’s what I love about public schools. We have those abilities to service kids in which a voucher in a private school would not,” Montemayor said. 

Montemayor said the state funding per student didn’t get refunded to Edgewood by the time parents brought their children back. 

According to an IDRA analysis, the decade-long voucher program cost Edgewood $75.2 million. Currently, the district’s enrollment is at all-time low, seeing two schools close in the last year. 

Supporters of vouchers say parents should have the ability to choose what school is best for their children. They believe giving parents more power will also push public school to perform better.

Pena says supporters are wrong.

“Instead of saying we are going to put all of our moneys in vouchers, I think we really think we need to look at the data and spend the dollars on providing the education that is going to close those gaps in kids,” he said.