(The Center Square) – The application deadline for Texas’ first school choice program comes to a close Tuesday after controversy and lawsuits have marked its rollout.
Texas’ first $1 billion Education Savings Account program provides roughly $1 billion in grants to roughly 100,000 students. More than 200,000 students have applied and more than 2,200 schools have been approved to participate, the comptroller’s office said.
Additional schools, vendors and education services continued to register to participate on a rolling basis, the comptroller’s office, which is administering the program, said. Accepted families will have until July 15 to confirm their school selections.
Lawmakers advocating for the program said it was designed to help students in failing public schools attend a school of their choice. Only 1% of applicants are existing public school students. Nearly all who applied currently attend private school or are homeschooled, according to state data, The Center Square reported.
The program rollout was marked by several challenges and controversies.
Muslim parents and Islamic schools sued after they were prevented from participating due to an executive order Gov. Greg Abbott signed and a legal opinion Attorney General Ken Paxton issued forcing the comptroller to restrict applications. The parents and schools argued they were being discriminated against. A federal judge agreed, ordering the application deadline to be extended to March 31 and for Muslim students to be able to apply, The Center Square reported.
There was also confusion about eligibility requirements, according to multiple news reports. Of the roughly 24,000 pre-k students who applied, less than half were eligible, the comptroller’s office said. This was partially due to narrower eligibility criteria for that age group, CBS News reported.
Additionally, parents with disabled students had difficulty applying, the Texas Tribune reported.
Multiple Christian private schools said they would not participate in the program, including ones that had held pro-school choice events in the Houston area, the Houston Chronicle reported. The cited reason for not participating was state intervention in biblical values and other issues with state requirements.
Then conflict broke out between Paxton and Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock, with Paxton stating his office would no longer represent the comptroller’s office in the lawsuits. The Office of Attorney General is required by law to represent state agencies in lawsuits.
In a letter to Hancock, Paxton argued he “single-handedly destroyed [his] ability to defend the comptroller’s office in these cases … putting petty politics above the interests” of taxpayers. He said Hancock’s office “made it impossible for us to proceed with legal representation. Additionally, your letter to me – which you selfishly leaked to the media – requires a public response.”
The criticism of Hancock came after Abbott criticized Paxton for failures in his legal strategies in other cases, The Center Square reported.
“For months, Texans have heard nothing but political posturing and marketing statistics from state leaders who instead should be answering the many questions that families and taxpayers still have about vouchers. Even some private schools are choosing not to participate because of concerns with the program,” Carrie Griffith, executive Ddrector of Our Schools Our Democracy, said in a statement. “The most important questions won’t be answered until the private schools choose which students to admit and Texans learn who is really benefitting from the program – not just who has applied.”
Griffith is also raising concerns about plans for the program to be expanded before it is even implemented. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick included expanding the program in his legislative priorities, which Griffith says “is premature.”
The application process closes Tuesday and the list of approved applicants will not be announced before next month. It is also unknown how many families may sue if they are not accepted, including Muslim students who were initially denied applying to the program.
The program is expected to go into effect in the 2026-2027 school year. Education outcomes and fiscal responsibility issues as well as other metrics will not be known until the school year is completed.
Confusion regarding eligibility and issues with the application process came after the comptroller’s office allocated millions of dollars for marketing the program.
Last October, the comptroller’s office signed a $26 million contract with New York-based technology company Odyssey, to oversee and manage the program. “Public reporting on Odyssey has raised repeated questions about [its] operations and ability to run other states’ voucher programs in almost every state where Odyssey has operated,” Our Schools Our Democracy said. It points to audits of Odyssey program rollouts and issues reported in Idaho, Iowa and Louisiana. Under the current law, according to the contract, $4 million was allocated for marketing the new program.
That’s in addition to $4 million awarded last October to 11 education providers in eight states to offer education services in Texas, The Center Square reported. The American Federation for Children Growth Fund also spent at least $2 million marketing the program, Fox News reported.
