Decades in the making, the Texas Education Freedom Act provides unprecedented opportunity to the state’s 5.5 million students.
Everyone who’s ever met a Texan knows that, according to them, “everything is bigger in Texas.” In some aspects, this statement is verifiably false: population (California is bigger), sports wins (California again), and GDP (yep, there’s a trend). But when it comes to passing the biggest education freedom program in the thirty-year history of private choice legislation, Texans can definitely brag about what happened this spring. The state’s new program represents years of strategic advocacy and electoral and philanthropic activity.
On May 3rd, Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 2, the Texas Education Freedom Act, into law, ushering in a new era for Texas’s 5.5 million students and validating the notion that everything is bigger in Texas.
Key Components of the Program
The Texas Education Savings Account Program (TESAP) guarantees a $1 billion appropriation in year one, making this the largest day-one educational choice program to pass in any state. Students entering pre-K through 12th grade can apply for an ESA, valued at roughly $10,500 (even more for students with special needs). If accepted, students can use the funds to cover a range of educational expenses related to their attendance at an accredited private school. Homeschool students can also participate in the program, applying for $2,000. In both cases, funds can be used for a range of expenses including tuition, test fees, tutoring, certain technological expense, educational therapy services, and more. Students in grades 3–12 who attend an accredited private school must take a nationally norm-referenced assessment on an annual basis.
And while some students (e.g., students with special needs or from lower-income families) move to the front of the application line in the event interest outpaces available scholarships, the bottom line is that every student in the Lonestar State is eligible to participate in the TESAP in 2026. This is not the first “universal eligibility” choice program—in fact, it’s the eighteenth such program in the U.S. However, by providing access to all students in the state, Texas has created an unprecedented number of educational opportunities.
A Winding Path to Educational Freedom in Texas
For years, onlookers have wondered why Texas, where residents place a premium on individual liberty, has lagged behind other states in educational freedom. During the same time the University of Texas joined the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in college athletics, the state failed to join other SEC states in enacting laws empowering parents.
In just the past two years, as Texas lawmakers debated measures to support families looking to improve their children’s educational outcomes, the SEC states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, and even Oklahoma passed laws that give children access to an education that works best for them. All the while, polling from the Hobby School of Public Affairs showed that two-thirds of Texans support Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) that would benefit all families.
The lack of results wasn’t for lack of trying. Rather, the scale of the opposition was commensurate to the size of the opportunity. For instance, one of the state’s largest political donors, Charles Butt, CEO of the H-E-B grocery chain, consistently backed Republicans who opposed school choice.
In 2023 the Texas State Legislature failed to pass a school choice bill, and Governor Greg Abbott quickly called several special sessions prioritizing education. Nevertheless, a “Baptist and Bootlegger” coalition of Democrats and rural Republicans thwarted these efforts. Moved by personal convication and perhaps sensing public sentiment, Gov. Abbott stated that he was willing to get choice legislation passed the “easy way” or the “hard way.”
The ”easy way” would have been for legislators to pass a law during one of the four special sessions called in 2023. The “hard way,” which ended up being the chosen path, was for voters to make a decision in the 2024 election cycle. According to Ballotpedia, a mere three percent of state-based, legislative incumbents lose their races. In 2024, this rate was more than quadrupled for Republican, Texas House incumbents. A total of sixteen pro-school choice candidates replaced recalcitrant members who refused to support families in need of new learning environments. In addition to Gov. Abbott’s tremendous support on the campaign trail, organizations like the American Federation for Children Victory Fund and the Texas Public Policy Foundation informed voters of the stakes of these down-ballot races.
The result was a legislature with at least 79 confirmed school choice supporters—a clear majority. The final nail in the anti-reform movement coffin was hammered when Republican Speaker and school choice opponent Dade Phelan relinquished his leadership position on December 6, 2024. The electoral results and change in legislative leadership paved the way for Bill 2’s passage in the spring of 2025.
Texas Legislators See a Track Record of Success
As the saying goes, “elections matter”; however, the details of the final bill were thoroughly debated during the 2025 session as legislators took notice of the school choice wave sweeping the nation and incorporated best practices into their bill.
In Florida, more than 400,000 students use education savings accounts (ESAs) to attend non-public schools and further customize their educational experience. Some families choose this option for academic reasons; others choose it because of unique circumstances. Some parents value a faith-based education while others simply want a safer learning environment. Like the Florida program, most students who participate in Texas will take an assessment so that their academic progress can be measured.
Recent research about the EdChoice Scholarship program in Ohio shows multiple positive outcomes. Participating students are more likely to enroll in college than students who remain in public school. At the same time, public school students facing greater competition from EdChoice also saw statistically meaningful gains in college enrollment and graduation rates.
Another study from the University of Arkansas shows that students are more likely to learn positive civic values at private schools. The majority of studies show that students in both private and public schools benefit from the competitive effects of choice.
The win in Texas was decades in the making, but at long last, families across the state will have access to a range of educational options. This legislation is not a rejection of conventional public schools, which continue to serve many students well. Instead, it is a clear-eyed acknowledgement that in a state of 5.5+ million students, the best way to serve unique student needs is to let parents, not entrenched interests, determine the path forward. Thanks to the tireless work of parent advocates, elected officials at the state level, nonprofits, and education entrepreneurs, the biggest thing happening in Texas in coming years will happen in classrooms, not on the football field.
