school vouchers

Applications will close March 17, with funding notifications sent to families beginning in early April. The rollout follows a years-long battle at the Capitol and marks a major victory for the governor after repeated failed attempts to pass similar legislation.

Several court hearings and policies affecting education, health and more will roll out in the new year.

Private schools looking to educate participating students may also have a chance to apply to the program before the end of the year.

For the first time since Texas authorized the program, the state heard public testimony from people concerned about pre-K funding, special education provisions and data reporting.

Finance and technology company Odyssey will help design the application process, manage payments and review complaints for the state's education savings accounts.

The sweeping legislation creates Education Savings Accounts, which allow parents to use state tax dollars toward private education costs. With $1 billion in initial funding, Texas' program is the largest day 1 plan of its kind in the nation.

Senate Bill 2 would create an education savings account program and has been Abbott's top priority.

After hours of debate — and years of pushing from Gov. Greg Abbott — the Texas House gave initial approval to a bill to create an Education Savings Account plan. The school voucher program would allow parents to use public funds towards private school costs.

Some Texas legislators may be done questioning the merits of education savings accounts as it moves to a vote in the State House, but voters aren't. Model programs in other states are showing rural voters could stand to lose the most, and they're preparing to do the math on election day.

Gov. Kevin Stitt anticipates the U.S. Supreme Court will accommodate state-sponsored religious education in its upcoming hearing of oral arguments in the St. Isidore Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond case. A recent study published in the state's Bar Association Journal suggests he's right.