The Texas House of Representatives signed off Thursday on a $1 billion school voucher program, in a move that some Jewish groups are hailing as a win for school choice while others are expressing dismay over potential losses for Texas public schools.
Texas is home to 20 private Jewish schools whose students and families stand to have their tuition supplemented up to $10,000 per student by tax dollars, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The move, which comes as the Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of publicly funded religious schools, has divided Jewish organizations.
Ahead of the vote, rabbis affiliated with the Religious Action Center of Texas, a Reform advocacy group, called on the Texas legislature to vote down the bill, writing that although they support the choice of their congregants to send their children to private schools, it shouldn’t divert resources from public schools.
“The school voucher bill being considered this week will undermine public education, threaten religious freedom and harm the children of Texas,” wrote Rabbi Eleanor B. Steinman of Austin and Rabbi Joshua R. S. Fixler of Houston in an op-ed published by the Austin American-Statesman.
Texas Jews react
Proponents of the legislation, many within the Orthodox community in Texas, argue that the program would allow families who choose Jewish day schools to enjoy the same state benefits as families sending their children to public schools.
“All of the members of our school are taxpayers who support the various public works that they utilize on a regular basis,” Rabbi Jordan Silvestri, the head of Beren Academy, a Modern Orthodox Jewish day school in Houston, told the Houston Chronicle. “They’re looking for a religious school environment, and to have an opportunity to have state money put toward supporting them in a similar vein as their neighbors in public school, I think is really critical.”
The legislation passed with near-total Republican support, with two Republican lawmakers joining the Democrats in voting against it. Gov. Greg Abbott has vowed to swiftly sign the bill into law once it reaches his desk following a reconciliation process with the Texas Senate.
The bill comes after Texas lawmakers voted to adopt a public school curriculum that includes instruction on Christianity and drew significant backlash from Jewish groups.
Lisa Epstein, the director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of San Antonio, told the Houston Chronicle that the curriculum issue was affecting Jewish families — in some cases driving them toward private schools that could soon become more affordable with vouchers.
“I have Jewish families who have exited schools because of some of these issues, and I have families who say they have chosen a private school because of these issues,” Epstein said. “It’s already happening, so certainly it will happen the more that public schools become Sunday schools.”
