Testimony Before the Texas House Committee on Public Education in Support of HB 3
Tim Benson
Senior Policy Analyst, Heartland Impact
March 11, 2025
Chairman Buckley, Vice Chair Bernal, and Members of the Committee:
Thank you for having this hearing on HB 3, which would establish a universal education savings account (ESA) program open to all children in the Lone Star State.
My name is Tim Benson, and I am the senior policy analyst with Heartland Impact. Heartland Impact is the advocacy and outreach arm of The Heartland Institute. Both are independent, national, nonprofit organizations working to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems. Heartland specializes on providing state lawmakers the policy and advocacy resources to advance free-market policies towards broad-based economic prosperity.
Copious empirical research[1]—literally dozens and dozens of gold-standard random assignment studies—on education choice programs[2] similar to what would be established here in Texas makes clear these programs offer families improved access to high-quality schools that meet their children’s unique needs and circumstances, and that these programs improve academic performance and attainment and deliver a quality education at lower cost than traditional public schools.
Not only are education choice programs like ESAs good policy, they are also broadly popular. Over one million children in 32 different states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, are right now making use of some kind of education choice program.
Education choice is also especially popular here in Texas. The Texas Trends 2024 survey of 2,300 Texans, commissioned by the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston and Texas Southern University, found 69 percent of Texans support the adoption of a universal ESA program in the Lone Star State.[3] That includes support from 74 percent of Republicans, 73 percent of independents, 61 percent of Democrats, 73 percent of black Texans, 72 percent of Hispanic Texans, 77 percent of low-income Texans, 77 percent of Millennials, and 74 percent of Gen Z.[4]
Backing up Texas Trends 2024 is EdChoice’s “Public Opinion Tracker,” last updated on February 12, which finds 67 percent of all Texas adults and 72 percent of parents with school-aged children are in favor of ESA programs.[5] Further, a yes. every kid. poll from February 6 finds 66 percent of Texas voters support a universal ESA program, including 65 percent of black voters and 66 percent of Hispanic voters.[6] It also indicates 57 percent of Texas voters would be more likely to vote for their legislator if they supported implementing a universal ESA program, including 65 percent of Republicans, 55 percent of independents, and 64 percent of parents of school-aged children.[7]
Regardless of its popularity, a universal ESA program is sorely needed in the Lone Star State because the state’s public schools are habitually failing Texas’ children. In 2024, only 43 percent[8] of Texas’ public school fourth-graders and 24 percent[9] of eighth-graders tested “proficient” to grade level in mathematics on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) examination, colloquially known as the “Nation’s Report Card.” Just 28 percent[10] of fourth-graders and 25 percent[11] of eighth-graders tested “proficient” in reading. Essentially, and embarrassingly, the state’s public schools are failing to educate roughly seven out of 10 Texas children to grade-level proficiency in reading and math.
The goal of public education in Texas today and in the years to come should be to allow all parents to choose which schools their children attend, require every school to compete for every student who walks through its doors, and make sure every child has the opportunity to attend a quality school that best fits their unique needs and circumstances. There has not been a time when providing these opportunities has been more urgent and more needed than right now.
Unfortunately, the school choice wave is threatening to pass Texas by, and the Lone Star State now trails neighboring Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, as well as Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, and a host of other states when it comes to providing education freedom to its residents. The Heritage Foundation ranked Texas just 31st overall for education choice in the latest version of its of its Education Freedom Report Card,[12] and the Lone Star State earned a score of 0, in a range of 0 to 100, on EdChoice’s new “Friedman Index,”[13] which “assesses how well each state enables families to direct education funding toward the options they deem best, whether public or private.”[14]
Simply put, states with robust and expansive school choice programs will be more attractive to families who have the ability to migrate to the state of their choosing. How many will decide against moving to Texas because it doesn’t offer their children the opportunity to attend the school that best suits their educational needs? Legislators should recognize this and enact ESAs, allowing all current and future Texans as many options as possible to get their children the education they need and deserve.
Thank you for your time.
Heartland Impact can send an expert to your state to testify or brief your caucus; host an event in your state; or send you further information on a topic. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance! If you have any questions or comments, contact Cameron Sholty, at csholty@heartlandimpact.org or 312/377- 4000.
[1] EdChoice, The 123s of School Choice (2024 Edition), June 27, 2024, https://www.edchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2024-123s-of-School-Choice.pdf.
[2] Martin F. Lueken, 2024 Fiscal Effects of School Choice, EdChoice, October 15, 2024, https://www.edchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Fiscal-Effects-2024.pdf
[3] Michael O. Adams, Renée Cross & Mark. P. Jones, Texas Trends 2024: School Vouchers & Educational Savings Accounts, Hobby School of Public Affairs – University of Houston, Barbara Jordan – Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs – Texas Southern University, July 11, 2024, https://uh.edu/hobby/txtrends/education.pdf.
[4] Ibid.
[5] EdChoice, Public Opinion Tracker – Texas, February 12, 2025, https://edchoice.morningconsultintelligence.com/reports/texas.pdf.
[6] yes. every kid., “Texas Statewide Education Survey Findings,” February 6, 2025, https://yeseverykid.com/press/new-poll-texans-overwhelmingly-support-universal-education-freedom-and-more-flexibility-for-families/.
[7] Ibid.
[8] National Center For Education Statistics, “2024 Mathematics State Snapshot Report – Texas – Grade 4,” https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/subject/publications/stt2024/pdf/2024219TX4.pdf.
[9] National Center For Education Statistics, “2024 Mathematics State Snapshot Report – Texas – Grade 8,” https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/subject/publications/stt2024/pdf/2024219TX8.pdf.
[10] National Center For Education Statistics, “2024 Reading State Snapshot Report – Texas – Grade 4,” https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/subject/publications/stt2024/pdf/2024220TX4.pdf.
[11] National Center For Education Statistics, “2024 Reading State Snapshot Report – Texas – Grade 8,” https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/subject/publications/stt2024/pdf/2024220TX8.pdf.
[12] Heritage Foundation, Education Freedom Report Card – State Report Card: Texas, accessed March 10, 2025, https://www.heritage.org/educationreportcard/assets/media/state-reportcards/tx.pdf.
[13] Ben Scafidi & Colyn Ritter, The 2025 EdChoice Friedman Index: All Students, All Options, All Dollars, EdChoice, March 5, 2025, https://www.edchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/2025-Friedman-Index.pdf.
[14] Ibid.
