Controversial education bills move to full Texas House
SB 2, HB 2 headed to full Texas House
Two controversial education bills are moving to the full Texas House. School funding and school choice legislation had critical votes Thursday after several hours of heated debate.
AUSTIN, Texas - Two controversial education bills are now headed to the full Texas House.
Senate Bill 2 and House Bill 2, which address school funding and school choice, had critical votes in a House committee Thursday after several hours of heated debate.
House Bill 2
What we know:
The House Public Education committee reconvened Thursday to finalize the hearing process for HB 2.
The bill, which has been modified from the original version, now comes with the promise of a $7.7 billion increase in school funding.
The package includes adding nearly $400 to the per-student basic allotment local districts get and a teacher pay hike; those with at least 10 years in the classroom would get more money than those with less time.
It passed on a 13 to 2 vote.
Senate Bill 2
What we know:
SB 2, the controversial school choice plan, was also discussed.
Modifications were made to the Senate school choice plan by the addition of sections from the House proposal.
The Education Savings Account program is to be capped at $1 billion. Other changes include a focus on students trying to get out of public schools, giving them a priority over those already in private schools. 80% of the funding is to go to students with disabilities, or from low-income families.
The school choice plan also has a section that restricts access to funding only to U.S. citizens or to people lawfully in the country.
The new SB 2 passed on a vote of 9 to 6.
What they're saying:
State Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D-Austin) told the committee she did not believe the money that will be spent on SB 2 will improve education outcomes in private schools. She believes it would be better spent helping the public school system.
"This bill increases the demands on the taxpayer because they have to fund a whole new lane of schools. And in fact, we are saying that after this next year cap expires, we could be on the hook for the private school tuition of every child currently in private school," said Hinojosa.
The changes, however, did not change opinions about school choice.
"I know the rhetoric around this bill is around helping working-class people or helping poor kids, but your bill does not match the rhetoric," said state Rep. James Talarico (D-Round Rock).
State-run camera blackout
Big picture view:
The committee discussion was not seen on the state website because of an earlier decision by Chairman Brad Buckley (R-Salado).
Buckley seemed to be trying to fast-track Thursday’s vote and justified the decision by noting the previous public hearing on the bills had more than 30 hours of testimony and more than 13,000 public comments.
Video streaming was done by some media outlets and news cameras were allowed in the room. Despite that, before the hearing began, two committee members, Talarico and Alma Allen (D-Houston), urged the chairman to turn the cameras back on.
"We need more transparency, not less. We don't need backroom deals. We need an open process where Texans can hear about the massive changes that are being proposed to our public education system," said Talarico.
The state video feed blackout included the discussion on SB 2, the controversial school choice plan.
What's next:
During the committee hearing, it was noted there would be an opportunity to make more adjustments to both bills during the House floor debate.
That debate is expected to happen next week.
What we don't know:
It’s unclear if the order of the bills will be reversed from how they were taken up in committee.
Reversing the order could result in holding up school funding until school choice legislation is passed.
The Source: Information in this report comes from a state House Committee meeting, reporting by FOX 7 Austin's Rudy Koski and previous reporting by FOX 7 Austin.