School vouchers are a key issue in the statehouse race in suburban Collin County

Education is front and center in the race for Texas House District 70 – specifically, voters’ views on school vouchers.

Democratic incumbent Mihaela Plesa, a Republican, and her Republican challenger Steve Kinard have different positions on education savings accounts – what opponents call school vouchers and supporters call school choice. And whoever voters send to Austin could signal how this suburban district leans on the issue.

Gov. Greg Abbott tried to push through what he calls school choice in the last legislative session. The plan would allow parents to use state funds for private school tuition through education savings accounts.

A group of Texas House Democrats and rural Republicans blocked the bill, including Plesa, who said school vouchers were harmful to public schools.

Her Republican opponent, however, said education savings accounts increase educational freedom and enable a free market for ideas.

“School choice means shifting control back to the community level,” Kinard said.

His support for school vouchers earned Kinard the governor’s support as Abbott promised to continue calling for “school choice” when the Legislature reconvenes in January. Abbott has also endorsed several primary opponents of Republican incumbents who voted with Democrats last year to oppose education savings accounts.

Five of these Republicans oppose vouchers they lost the primaries directly, and six lost to Abbott-backed challengers in the primary.

Abbott’s education plan is this will probably pass for the upcoming legislative session.

Colleen Dippel supports education savings accounts and said they would not take money away from public schools. Dippel, founder and CEO of the educational nonprofit organization Family strengthenedstated that education savings accounts give parents the freedom and resources to decide what is best for their child, regardless of income.

“We’re going to trust them,” Dippel said. “We will give them the opportunity to make sure everyone has access to the same choices.”

But opponents say vouchers would derail public school funding in a state that hasn’t seen a funding increase since 2019. A House bill introduced during the last legislative session would raise the base allotment — the amount given to each district based on enrollment. But the bill failed after lawmakers removed money from school vouchers.

The base grant amount is $6,160 per student, and the lack of increased funding poses a challenge even for wealthier districts. In Texas House District 70, which includes part of Plano ISD, the school district has been running a budget deficit for several years despite its real estate wealth. School board members recently voted to close four campuses next school year due to budget problems.

Local property taxes in Plano generate a lot of revenue, but the school district can’t keep all that money. Any additional property tax dollars that Plano ISD collects are sent to the state, which redistributes the money to districts that don’t have as much property through a process called clawback.

Plesa said the education savings account plan would hurt districts that send millions back to the state through recapture.

“These types of bills do not at all account for districts like Plano ISD, Frisco ISD and Allen ISD, which are all rebound districts,” she said. “We are already doing everything we can to lift all boats.”

Plesa said she is pushing for school finance reform, even complex legal act last session on this matter. One of Plesa’s bills filed last session focused on “tax transparency,” which would show taxpayers where their dollars end up in their bills.

Kinard also wants to reform school finances, but is more focused on the recovery system. He said it lacked transparency and honesty. He also said school choice would lead to more – not less – investment in public schools because most people would choose to send their children to their local public schools.

“Investing in students is investing in public education,” Kinard said.

But Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, said voucher programs have not led to increased funding for Texas public schools in the past.

“We might try again, but we’ll probably fail again,” Jillson said.

Got a tip? Email Caroline Love at: [email protected].

Karolina Love is Report for America KERA News corps member.

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