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The Texas Legislature is proposing a billion-dollar outlay for school voucher programs over the next two years. The House and Senate released proposed budget numbers on Wednesday. The voucher program would use public money to help pay for private schooling. Democrats opposed it two years ago, and the issue divided Republicans.
A number of GOP opponents of the bill were voted out in the primaries, so a more conservative party is giving it another try this year. The Senate’s budget proposal also includes nearly five billion dollars to increase teacher pay.
