IDRA Texas Education Policy Alert – March 10, 2025

Tuesday, the House Public Education Committee is holding a hearing on House Bill 3! Here are ways you can voice your concerns against this voucher bill.

Make sure you keep receiving these notices by subscribing to IDRA’s Texas Education Policy Alert!

And please tell your friends! Our alerts are available in Spanish too.

In this edition…

Committee Hearings This Week
Action Alert: Tell Your Rep to Vote No on HB 3!
Voucher Data Map
School Funding Data Dashboards
Highlights from Last Week

Coming Up: Week of March 10, 2025

Texas House: Tuesday

House Public Education Committee
8:00 a.m. (See notice)
Watch hearings live
Watch past hearings

Texas Senate: Tuesday

Senate Education K-16 Committee
8:00 a.m. (See notice)
Watch hearings live
Watch past hearings

Action Alert, Tell Your Rep to Vote No on HB 3!

Tomorrow, the House Public Education Committee will hold a hearing on House Bill 3, its version of a voucher bill. This bill would provide $1 billion to divert public money to private schools via “education savings accounts.” A few reasons this bill is bad, include:

Public dollars belong in public schools.
Private schools can deny families from enrolling.
Families would have to waive their children’s rights for such things as federally protected special education or language services.
There is no accountability to the state or to parents about how the voucher is used or how students who use it are educated and treated fairly.

What You Can Do

Go to the Capitol in Austin and testify against the bill.
Call the members of the committee (see list below) and tell them to vote no on vouchers.
Submit House public comment to explain why legislators should vote no on vouchers.

House Public Education Committee Members

Rep. James Talarico – (512) 463-0821
Chairman Rep. Brad Buckley – (512) 463-0684
Vice Chair Rep. Diego Bernal – (512) 463-0532
Rep. Alma Allen – (512) 463-0744
Rep. Trent Ashby – (512) 463-0508
Rep. John Bryant – (512) 463-0576
Rep. Charles Cunningham – (512) 463-0520
Rep. Harold Dutton – (512) 463-0510
Rep. James Frank – (512) 463-0534
Rep. Gina Hinojosa – (512) 463-0668
Rep. Todd Hunter – (512) 463-0672
Rep. Helen Kerwin – (512) 463-0538
Rep. Jeff Leach – (512) 463-0544
Rep. Terri Leo Wilson – (512) 463-0502
Rep. Alan Schoolcraft – (512) 463-0602

Need help crafting your testimony?

Here’s how you can testify for tomorrow’s hearing at right!

You can also view our new testimony pak for Texas! For any other advocacy tools around vouchers or any education related issues, check out our IDRA SEEN site for more tips!

See More Advocacy Tips on TikTok and Instagram!

Highlights from Last Week

Testimony Presented Last Week

Investing in Compensatory and Bilingual Education is Key to Advancing State Goals for Student Success – IDRA Invited Testimony on HB 2, Submitted by Chloe Latham Sikes, Ph.D., to the Texas House Public Education Committee, March 4, 2025

Cost of Vouchers Data Map Infographic

Check out our data map to see how much your school district stands to lose with a voucher program.

Katy ISD could lose $38.8 million
Houston ISD could lose $75 million
Dallas ISD could lose $57 million
Cypress-Fairbanks ISD could lose $48 million
Northside ISD could lose $41 million

The Big Cost of Proposed Voucher Legislation

New School Funding Data Dashboards

Check out our new school funding data maps! These interactive give you an opportunity to see how much or how little money the state provides to your school district, and how much your district must rely on local funds.

Additionally, we have maps that show the amount of funds your district receives for special education and bilingual education. Click on your school district to learn more.