Texas
Vouchers
“No man shall be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship, or
to maintain any ministry against his consent.” Texas Const. Art. I, § 6.
Blaine Amendments
“No money shall be appropriated, or drawn from the Treasury for the benefit of
any sect, or religious society, theological or religious seminary; nor shall property
belonging to the State be appropriated for any such purposes.” Texas Const. Art. I, § 7.
“The permanent school fund and the available school fund may not be
appropriated to or used for the support of any sectarian school.” Texas Const. Art.
VII, § 5(c).
“A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the
liberties and rights of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature of the State
to establish and make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an
efficient system of public free schools.” Texas Const. Art. VII, § 1.
Public School Choice: Yes
Intradistrict/mandatory and Interdistrict/
voluntary
Texas Education Code Annotated Sections
29.201 to 29.204
Intradistrict/voluntary
Texas Education Code Annotated Sections
25.031 to 25.034, 25.035 to 25.039
Charter Schools: Yes
Texas Education Code Annotated Sections
12.001 to 12.156
Private School Choice: No
RELEVANT CASE LAW
Church v. Bullock, 109 S.W. 115 (Tex. 1908)
The Texas Supreme Court held that reading from
the King James Bible and reciting the Lord’s
Prayer did not turn a Texas public school into a
“sectarian” institution because both are critical to
developing students’ moral faculties.
1975 Tex. AG LEXIS 285, Letter Advisory No. 105
The Texas Attorney General concluded that
distribution of state-owned textbooks to private
school pupils would not violate a Blaine
Amendment (Article I, Section 7) of the Texas
Constitution because it would provide only
“minimal benefits to the sectarian activities of
nonpublic schools.”
1973 Tex. AG LEXIS 231, 15-16 Opinion No H-66
The Texas Attorney General concluded that
providing public funds to parochial schools
through tuition equalization grants under a
religiously neutral program is not inherently
unconstitutional under the Texas Constitution
because although Texas’ second Blaine
Amendment (Article VII, Section 5) “prohibits aid
to sects[,]” “not all denominational institutions are
sectarian in the constitutional sense.”
78
EXISTING SCHOOL CHOICE PROGRAMS
Compelled Support Clause
Education Article
Tax Credits
Both tax credit and voucher programs are school choice
options for Texas. The few interpretations of Texas’ Blaine
Amendments and its Compelled Support Clause that exist do
no prohibit providing aid to parents to enable them to select
public or private schools for their children. Such programs
must be funded by sources other than the permanent and
available school funds defined in the education article of the
Texas Constitution.
Model Legislation: Parental Choice Scholarship Program (Universal
Eligibility), Parental Choice Scholarship Program (Means-Tested
Eligibility), Special Needs Scholarship Program, Foster Child
Scholarship Program, Autism Scholarship, Great Schools Tax Credit
Program, Family Education Tax Credit Program