Texas has been ordered to extend the school voucher application period, after judge ruled that the state was excluding Islamic schools from the program.
The extension comes after Muslim parents and private schools sued the state earlier this month.
The temporary order was issued by U.S. District Judge Alfred Bennett extends the deadline until March 31 and will prevent the state from considering which families will receive school voucher funding until that time. It also requires the state to update the voucher application on its website but does not require adding them to the list of approved schools. A second hearing is set for late April.
Up to now, acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock who manages the program, has prevented Islamic schools from participating in the program due to claims that some are associated with foreign terrorist organizations.
Hancock has said schools accredited by the company Cognia hosted events organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group that Gov. Greg Abbott recently designated a terrorist organization. CAIR has sued Abbott over the label, calling it defamatory and false. The U.S. State Department has not designated the organization a terrorist group.
According to Hancock, another Cognia school “may be owned or controlled” by a group linked to the Chinese communist government, though he did not cite evidence of the claim.
Previously, the voucher application window was set to close this past Tuesday for families who want to use public funds to pay for private school or home-school during the 2026-27 academic year.
The comptroller’s office said, as of Tuesday, applications for more than 229,000 students, well above what $1 billion in available state funding can pay for. More than 2,200 private schools have opted in to accept voucher students.
Thus far, at least 71% of Texas voucher applicants come from families whose children attended a private school or home-school during the 2024-25 academic year, according to data released earlier this month.
If approved, most participating families with children in private schools will receive about $10,500 annually. Home-schoolers can receive up to $2,000 per year. Children with disabilities qualify for up to $30,000 — an amount based on what it would cost to educate that child in a public school.
The comptroller will use a lottery system to determine how the state will divide $1 billion among eligible students. Applicants will be considered in this order: students with disabilities in families with an annual income at or below 500% of the federal poverty level, which includes a four-person household earning less than roughly $165,000 a year; families at or below 200% of the poverty level, which includes a four-person household earning less than roughly $66,000; families between 200% and 500% of the poverty level; and families at or above 500% of the poverty level; these families can receive up to $200 million of the program’s total budget.
For those approved to receive vouchers, families must still find private schools, which are not required to make special ed accommodations. Parents have until July 15 to enroll children in school; private school will confirm enrollment by July 31.
According to early date from the comptroller, about 35% of students come from households that make at or below $66,000 per year for a family of four; 37% make between $66,000 and $165,000 per year; and 28% make more than $165,000 per year. Additionally, nearly 80% of applicants are for private school with the remaining number opting for home-school. Most families applied to receive vouchers for pre-K, though half of them do not meet the eligibility criteria, and most applicants reside in Houston area, followed by the Richardson, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin regions.