Bill > HB1892

This bill, titled the Parental Empowerment Program Act of 2023, aims to empower parents to direct the education of their children in Texas. The key provisions of the bill include: 1. Establishing the Parental Empowerment Program, administered by the state comptroller, which allows parents or legal guardians of eligible students (school-age children residing in Texas) to receive reimbursement for tuition paid to private schools, up to 80% of the state's average maintenance and operations expenditures per student. 2. Ensuring that private schools chosen by parents are not required to comply with any state law or regulation governing their educational program that was not in effect on January 1, 2023. 3. Requiring the comptroller to provide enrollment and funding information to the Commissioner of Education and Legislative Budget Board, which will be used to modify the estimates of student enrollment for the Foundation School Program. 4. Directing any savings from the Foundation School Program, after funding the Parental Empowerment Program, to be distributed to public schools on a per capita basis. 5. Allowing the comptroller to deduct up to 2% of the scheduled distribution to participants to cover the state's administrative costs for the program. The bill aims to provide parents with more choice and control over their children's education while ensuring efficient use of state education funds.