Could Texas school vouchers benefit private child care? It’s complicated.
After Texas state officials recently released proposed rules surrounding Education Savings Accounts and ESAs, which are similar to school vouchers, early learning experts are voicing concerns about the opportunity for private child care programs to provide pre-K to eligible students through the new program.
The Texas Comptroller’s Office recently announced proposed rules for the state program’s structure and eligibility requirements after lawmakers approved $1 billion in ESA funding during the regular legislative session this year. The office is currently receiving public comment for a month on the rules, which will be taken into consideration before final adoption.
Families are able to apply for the funding in early 2026, and the program will roll out in the 2026-27 school year. But questions have been raised about how eligible 3- and 4-year-old students could utilize ESAs for pre-K instruction outside of a public school, and whether they could receive the standard $10,000 to attend a private child care program.
In general, supporters of ESAs say they provide school choice to families who want options beyond their local public school. Opponents say the program diverts money away from public schools in need of further investment.
For child care providers who offer pre-K programming, ESAs are an opportunity to help stabilize a sector that’s been competing with public schools for enrollment of these students. The first few weeks of the current school year yielded the biggest exodus seen of pre-K students transferring from private providers to public schools, according to Tim Kaminski, president of the Texas Licensed Child Care Association.
“That’s why language around this voucher program is so important, and why there’s an understanding of this competition between the school districts and the private centers for enrollment because we’re both affected in the same way. If the public school doesn’t have the enrollment, they don’t get the funding that they need. If we don’t have the enrollment, we don’t have the funding that we need. We’re both vying for those same dollars right now,” Kaminski said.
It’s unclear to what extent public pre-K programs would be impacted by ESAs. The Star-Telegram reached out to the four largest districts in Tarrant County for comment on this topic: Fort Worth ISD, Arlington ISD, Mansfield ISD and Keller ISD. Fort Worth ISD and Arlington ISD officials said their focus is to continue serving students and meeting their early learning needs. Mansfield ISD and Keller ISD officials did not respond to requests for comment.
“Fort Worth ISD is committed to continuing to provide high-quality pre-K for our families. We are proud to be the destination district of choice for families in our city, and we will continue to invest in ensuring that every child has access to a strong start in pre-K and beyond,” officials said in a statement.
Arlington ISD acknowledged the possibility of some families utilizing ESAs while underscoring the highlights of why families choose the district for pre-K.
“Arlington ISD offers free, full-day pre-K designed to spark learning and support the whole child, from literacy and math skills to social-emotional growth. While it’s possible that ESAs could influence some families’ choices, we will continue to invest in high-quality classrooms, dual-language opportunities like Wimbish World Language Academy, and the strong neighborhood connections that families value. We believe parents choose Arlington ISD because of the relationships and sense of belonging their children find here, and that focus will not change,” officials said in a statement.
Bill vs. Texas Comptroller rules
Senate Bill 2, signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott in May, allows eligible students to receive about $10,000 a year for private school education, which is 85% of the average state and local funding per student. Students with special needs could receive up to $30,000, while home-schooled students could receive $2,000. The funding can also be spent on education-related expenses such as textbooks, private tutoring and transportation costs.
ESAs will be disbursed based on priority groups and a lottery system. Students with disabilities whose families earn up to 500% of the federal poverty guidelines — $160,750 for a family of four — would be prioritized first. Based on 2025 data, the following priority groups would be:
- Families earning at or below 200% of these guidelines — less than $64,300 for a family of four
- Families earning between 200% and 500% of these guidelines — between $64,299 and $160,749 for a family of four
- Families earning 500% or more of these guidelines — $160,750 or more for a family of four
- Students with siblings in the program over those without siblings in the program; Students who previously participated in the program and left to enroll in public school
Pre-K students must meet additional state requirements already in place that aren’t applied to K-12 students. Certain populations of students such as those from low-income households, those experiencing homelessness, those who are unable to speak or comprehend English, or children of an active-duty military member are eligible to enroll in a state pre-K program or obtain ESA money.
Senate Bill 2 states that child care providers are eligible to participate in the ESA program to serve pre-K and kindergarten students if they have certain state or national accreditations. For example, providers part of the Texas Rising Star program are recognized if they have a three-star or four-star rating. The quality rating and improvement system rates early childhood programs from two to four stars, with four stars as the highest rating.
But the release of the proposed rules around ESAs by the Texas Comptroller’s Office has prompted concern from some early childhood organizations and child care providers. They say that the proposed rules require private providers to be accredited only by the Texas Private School Accreditation Commission in order for families to receive the $10,000 to attend one of those programs, while Senate Bill 2 says otherwise.
Rule §16.407(b) says the funding allotted for an education service provider that is not a private school must be no more than $2,000, the same cap for home-schooled students.
“Our interpretation is that prekindergarten-age students who want to take their ESA to a private prekindergarten provider would be capped at the $2,000 amount unless that private prekindergarten program is also accredited by the Texas Private School Accreditation Commission,” said Catherine Davis, director of policy for Child Care Associates.
Davis noted that some child care providers have this accreditation, but most don’t.
“We’re hopeful that the Comptroller’s Office will take a second look at the rules and ensure that they really reflect what the law says, which is that students who want to take their ESA to a private prekindergarten program can do so with a $10,000 ESA, as opposed to the $2,000 ESA,” Davis added.
Wendy Uptain, executive director of Early Matters Texas, said her interpretation of the proposed rules was the same as Child Care Associates’. It appears child care providers are being categorized in the same vein as a tutoring program, for example, rather than a pre-K program that’s comparable to those seen in public schools, she said.
“It is a misunderstanding of the value that pre-K actually has on a child and getting them ready for public school,” Uptain said.
$10,000 vs. $2,000
Private child care providers pitch their pre-K programs as a more intimate setting where there are more opportunities for parents and early educators to interact and, in turn, keep track of their children’s growth and learning. Most private programs offer before- and after-school care for families who need more flexible hours that align with their work schedules.
It comes at a price, though, with the average tuition costing about $10,000 a year in Texas. This number varies by age and location, but in the instance that private child care providers can receive $10,000 through the ESA program, that means the majority of tuition could be covered for families considering this option.
Kurt Hutson, owner of Rise Academy located north of Dallas in Allen, said 3- and 4-year-old students are the most profitable in terms of the revenue source from their tuition. It helps offset the higher costs of caring for infants and toddlers. A $10,000 ESA would put providers like Hutson on an equal playing field against public school districts, he said.
“The big fight that we’ve had legislatively is that when you have school districts coming in and taking four-year-olds or three-year-olds…. what it does, essentially, is it cuts the lifetime cycle of our customer down by 20%, which then means we have to figure out how to compress all the revenue that was in a five-year life cycle down to a four-year life cycle, which means all the infants, toddlers, 2’s and 3’s are much more expensive than they were before,” Hutson said.
In the instance that providers receive $2,000, it would only cover part of the cost of after-school programming at Rise Academy, Hutson said. It costs about $3,600 for the school year, including pick-up from the school. There would be an opportunity, though, for homeschool students to potentially receive a discounted rate if their parent dropped them off at Rise Academy after the school day to develop their socialization skills. It would also offer a chance for private providers to participate in the ESA program.
“That would assume that the parents don’t use the $2,000 for everything else. But that was a thought that we had been kind of tossing around… if you’re at homeschool, but you would like for your child to be here for the socialization and extracurricular activities and things like that for a couple hours in the afternoon, that’s an option. A way to use the ESA,” Hutson said.
Other experts weigh in
Other experts in the child care and early childhood education space say it remains to be seen how ESAs could impact the pre-K sector.
Texans Care for Children, a nonprofit child advocacy organization, said it is focusing in general on pre-K accessibility for children with disabilities through various avenues such as public school, an ESA or a pre-K partnership between a school district and private child care program. The nonprofit emphasized the need for lawmakers to improve coordination across the early learning system as new policies come forward.
“Pre-K is different than kindergarten or seventh grade, not just because the kids are younger and have different needs, but also because there’s a much more fractured system of funding, eligibility, and providers,” Texans Care for Children said in a statement. “When the Legislature changes one part of the early learning system, it can have ripple effects for kids in different situations. State leaders will need to monitor how the different moving pieces impact each other and then to develop a coordinated approach to improving early learning opportunities for Texas kids.”
Grant Coates, CEO and president of The Miles Foundation, said a healthy ecosystem is needed in the child care space in order for the workforce and economic development in Fort Worth to thrive while serving children. The inclusion of child care providers in the ESA program is a positive, he said.
“We’re excited about the access the families are going to have to new options to make high-quality pre-K more affordable and flexible, especially for working parents who might need extended hours or specialized programs. This is a big win,” Coates said. “Introducing choice and giving families flexible options and opportunity to choose something different, I think you’ll see new options that I think really just complement what we already have in Fort Worth. So this isn’t a competition between public schools or private schools to us, it’s, ‘Let’s build out the most robust education ecosystem in the state so we can serve families better.’”
