Judge orders Texas to extend deadline on school voucher program

HOUSTON - A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the extension of the application deadline for Texas' school voucher program because of the state's exclusion of Islamic schools.

U.S. District Judge Alfred Bennett ordered the state to extend the deadline until March 31 after four Muslim parents and three Islamic private schools sued the comptroller's office earlier this month, claiming the state was discriminating against their religion by excluding them from the program.

Under the order, two schools named in the lawsuit, Excellence Academy and Houston Quran Academy- Katy must be sent applications for approval within 24 hours.

What they're saying:

Eric Hudson, an attorney representing Bayaan Academy, said the judge's order is "an initial step, but an important one."

"We are pleased that the Court recognized what this case has been about from the beginning: the State cannot exclude families and schools from a public program based on religion," Hudson said. "The temporary restraining order ensures that Muslim families are not forced to navigate a distorted application process while their schools are sidelined."

The backstory:

Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock had previously asked for an opinion on excluding schools from the program and who had that authority. Hancock's question specifically asked if schools that had hosted events for the Council on American-Islamic Relations could be banned from the program.

Gov. Greg Abbott designated CAIR as a terrorist organization in November. The group has since filed a lawsuit claiming the proclamation is based on "defamatory" and "provably false statements."

Democratic lawmakers have accused the comptroller of using this justification to issue a blanket ban on Islamic schools in the program.

On Tuesday, CAIR applauded the decision.

What they're saying:

"We welcome the court’s decision to extend the application deadline and recognize the serious concerns raised about the exclusion of Islamic schools from Texas’ voucher program. All families, regardless of their faith, deserve equal access to educational opportunities supported by public programs," CAIR said in a statement. "The lack of approved Islamic schools raises important questions about whether the program is being implemented in a fair, inclusive and nondiscriminatory manner. We urge state officials to take immediate steps to ensure that faith-based schools, including Islamic institutions, are given a fair opportunity to participate."

A hearing for a permanent injunction is set for April 24.

A release from the comptroller's office acknowledged the order and announced the extension of the application deadline to 11:59 p.m. on March 31.

"This two-week extension will give families an additional opportunity to apply for the first year of school choice in Texas," Hancock said. "We look forward to building on the record-setting demand for educational options that we have seen over the first six weeks."

Registration for school vouchers program was set to end Tuesday

Prior to the judge's ruling, applications for the TEFA program were set to close at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.

The Comptroller's Office said more than 200,000 students were signed up for the program as of Monday.

A clear indication this version of school choice is popular, according to Rice University political analysts Mark Jones.

"I think actually what you're probably going to find is that a lot of the doomsday skeptical talk isn't going to bear out because I think you know, much of the critiques of the education savings account were more about what it might eventually become in terms of being more expansive rather than to this actual application," Jones said.

The program was created by the Texas Legislature in 2025 and funded with $1 billion in its inaugural year. 

The current number of applicants is more than double the available spots, as it is expected to serve only up to 90,000 students.

How Texas Education Freedom Accounts work

The Texas Education Freedom Accounts program allows eligible families to use state education funds for approved expenses such as private school tuition, tutoring, textbooks, transportation and certain therapies. Funds are placed in state-managed education savings accounts, and parents’ direct payments to participating schools or approved vendors.

More than 2,200 schools have signed up to participate so far, according to the comptroller’s office. Families do not have to select a school when submitting an application and will have until July 15 to confirm their school choices.

The application process is not first-come, first-served, meaning families who apply before the deadline will receive equal consideration regardless of when they submit their applications.

Advocacy groups like Texas Parent to Parent are monitoring the launch. Director Linda Litzinger was asked if she was pleased or concerned with what she had seen so far.

"A combination. There have been some glitches and some concerns," Litzinger said. 

The application process to get additional special education money, according to Litzinger, is not long enough. And the 10% limit on expenditures on technology and equipment is another problem.

"If you're in special ed, and maybe you can't communicate because of hearing or vision or both, or maybe, um, you need some... Durable medical equipment that is computerized, and it might be 10 or $15,000 alone, then you're going to be way over that 10%. And so we asked, well, if it's for assistive technology that's really critical to learning or being in the school, if it is an extra breathing machine or a Hoyer lift, we said, is that an exception to the 10% rule? And we were told, no, it must be under 10%," Litzinger said.

Breakdown of applicant data

By the numbers:

Data released by the comptroller’s office shows the majority of applicants are seeking to attend private schools, with 78% indicating private school enrollment for the 2026–27 school year, while 22% listed homeschooling or other options.

The income breakdown of applicants ranges with about 35% of applicants reporting household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level. 37% of applicants falling between 200% and 500% of the federal poverty level, and 28% reported income above 500% of the federal poverty level. 

Applications cover students across all grade levels, with the largest number coming from early grades. Prekindergarten accounts for about 25,800 applications and kindergarten more than 19,000, while each elementary grade level has roughly 15,000 applications.

When school choice was debated in the State Capitol, it was promoted as a way to help lower-income students get out of low-performing schools. But an initial breakdown on who has applied, shows a large block of kids who currently are not in a public school  but will be entering pre-k.

"So really, this is more going to fund something akin to universal pre-K rather than K through twelve, or at least it runs that risk," said Jones.

A legislative adjustment to the Pre-K rule, which Jones said was made by the Comptrollers Office, is likely. It’s unclear if the Federal TRO will impact two upcoming dates for the EFA program. The initial first offering of awards for parents is set for next month. And then parents have until the end of July to select a school. It’s not known if the comptroller’s office will slide those dates.

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