I’ve seen school choice work for poor Texas kids. It’ll boost public schools, too | Opinion

Texas lawmakers are advancing bills to create a state education savings account program. While such accounts, known as ESAs, would be new to Texas, a private scholarship program that helps low-income students access alternatives to public schools has already been tried and tested with outstanding results.

ACE Scholarships Texas, a nonprofit group, has delivered close to 8,000 private scholarships to low-income families across the state since 2017. As its president, I’ve witnessed firsthand the challenges Texas families face in securing a quality education for their children.

The unfortunate reality is that while many Texas public schools do a great job serving students, countless students — especially those in low-income ZIP codes — are assigned to schools that do not meet educational standards or address individual learning needs.

For example, in the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, 88% of middle school students are proficient in math, but in the Boles Independent School District, just 27% meet the same standard.

Many high- and middle-income families can afford to access alternatives when their assigned public schools fall short, but lower-income families often lack the financial resources to pursue other options. ESAs would level the playing field.

There is a clear desire for ESAs, with 69% of Texans, including 70% of Black Texans and 64% of Latino Texans, supporting ESA legislation, according to a recent poll. Yet, despite its popularity, Texas ESA legislation has been repeatedly stymied by two myths.

First, critics claim that ESAs will harm public schools. But Texas public schools serve more than 5 million students, and many families will opt to stay at high-performing public schools.

For low-performing public schools, increased competition will prompt changes that improve student outcomes.

A 2020 study analyzing Florida’s school choice program found that increasing private school options was associated with higher test scores and fewer absences and suspensions among public school students. The benefits were most pronounced among lower-income students. And out of 29 studies analyzed by EdChoice, 26 found that private school choice programs improved public school test scores.

Research also suggests that school choice could raise teacher pay by increasing employment opportunities and encouraging competition among employers.

Second, there’s a misconception that ESAs benefit only high-and-middle-income students, as lower-income students lack the resources to learn about and apply to these programs. In my experience delivering scholarships to low-income students, the opposite is true.

Low-income families are extremely motivated to see their children succeed and break generational cycles of poverty. This has caused demand for our scholarships to outpace available funds. Last year, ACE received more than 4,200 qualified applications from low-income Texas families, but due to funding restraints, we were able to provide only 1,200 scholarships.

We’ve seen the same pattern nationwide — in the 12 states where we work, scholarship applications tripled during the last few years.

Texas needs school choice now. The latest National Assessment of Educational Progress reveals that just 28% of Texas 4th-grade students are proficient in reading, while just 24% of Texas 8th-graders are proficient in math. These scores are particularly alarming because they correlate with higher dropout rates and lower educational attainment, workforce readiness and earnings — ultimately jeopardizing Texas’s long-term economic outlook.

Changing education changes everything. If Texas wants to remain an economic leader, it needs a stronger educational foundation. School choice is the key to building that foundation, with far-reaching benefits for society.

I’ve seen firsthand how empowering students with educational opportunities unleashes potential. ACE scholars attend schools with an average 98.9% on-time graduation rate, compared to 81% for low-income public-school students nationwide. They also demonstrate significantly higher math and reading scores than their public-school counterparts.

School choice has already worked for thousands of Texas students fortunate enough to receive private scholarships. A Texas ESA program could extend that opportunity to many more, ensuring quality education for all and paving the way for a brighter future for thousands of overlooked kids — and for Texas as a whole.