AUSTIN, Texas — A bill signed by Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday ends years of work by Republicans to create a $1 billion school voucher program in Texas. This will be one of the biggest programs in the country and use public money to pay for private school fees.

Supporters of school vouchers have been aiming at the state for a long time. Efforts to do so failed for decades in the past because of opposition from Democrats and rural Republicans. Trump called senators last month before a very important vote that was needed to get the bill to Abbott’s desk.

Texas joins more than 30 other states that have a similar program. In the last few years, about a dozen of those states have started or expanded their programs to make more kids eligible.

Abbott’s main focus this year has been on school vouchers. He led an effort to get rid of GOP members who voted against a similar bill in the last session, which happened in 2024.

Republicans who are in favour of the bill say it will give parents more options by letting them pull their kids out of public schools that aren’t doing well.

Before signing the bill at the governor’s house, Abbott said, “Gone are the days when families could only go to the schools that the government chose for them.” The time has come for parents to be able to pick the best school for their child.

Republicans and Democrats in rural districts have said the program is bad because it will take money away from Texas’s more than 5 million public school kids to pay for wealthy families’ private schools.

From the next school year on, families in Texas will be able to get $10,000 a year to help pay for their children to go to private school. Kids with disabilities may be able to get up to $30,000 a year. It will cost up to $4.5 billion a year by 2030, but only $1 billion for the first year. It will cover up to 90,000 kids.