The U.S. Senate this month did what the conservative Texas Legislature couldn’t do earlier this year: pass legislation expanding what proponents call private school choice.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, tacked on to the Senate’s version of the tax overhaul bill a provision that would allow parents to use college savings accounts called 529 plans, which aren’t taxed, to pay for expenses for kindergarten through 12th grade, including private school tuition and home school costs. The House version has a similar provision, but it allows an account to be opened before a child is born and doesn’t include home schooling expenses.
Texans have opened about 231,000 529 accounts, according to the state comptroller’s office, which oversees the accounts. That figure does not include Texans that have enrolled in other states’ 529 plans.
House and Senate negotiators will hash out differences in the bills before sending a compromise to President Donald Trump’s desk.
While critics have called Cruz’s amendment a private school voucher for rich families, Cruz has lauded it as the “most far-reaching federal school choice legislation.”
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Ted Cruz gets results. https://t.co/pEu3WUi6h9
— Chris Wilson (@WilsonWPA) December 11, 2017
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