Texas families will soon be able to access $1 billion in taxpayer dollars through education savings accounts, also known as school vouchers, to pay for private school tuition, tutoring, transportation and several other education-related costs.  Passed during the 89th legislative session, the state is calling the universal program Texas Education Freedom Accounts. Families can start applying Wednesday, Feb. 4.  The application portal closes March 17 with selected families getting funds for the 2026-27 school year. State officials estimate the first year of TEFAs will serve about 100,000 families, with awards averaging about $10,000. view article

Gov. Greg Abbott sent a letter to Cy-Fair ISD leaders Wednesday demanding that they cancel a sporting event with the Islamic Games of North America scheduled for later this year, citing alleged ties to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which Abbott recently declared a "foreign terrorist organization."   "You cannot invite such dangers through the front doors of our schools," he wrote. "Radical Islamic extremism is not welcome in Texas — and certainly not in our schools."  The move comes after the Dallas-area Grapevine-Colleyville ISD canceled a similar event on Tuesday, saying that they had learned that CAIR New Jersey was a sponsor of a related event at one point, according to news reports.  view article

HISD will convert Gregg and Clemente Martinez elemantaries into "Future 2 Schools," serving students from kindergarten through eighth grade and focused on skills needed with the rise of artificial intelligence. view article

The Texas school voucher program is accepting applications for the 2026-27 school year, but the deadline is fast approaching   Known as the Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA), the program allowed families to begin applying for vouchers starting Feb. 4, 2026, with the application deadline set for March 17.   The TEFA — formerly known as Senate Bill 2 — was signed into law by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday, May 3, 2025.   For context, S.B. 2 established a $1 billion education savings account program for students and their families to use for tuition and other education expenses equal to 85% of what public schools receive per student through state and local funds. view article

Waco ISD board members voted Thursday night to begin contract negotiations with a third-party charter company in an effort to improve academic performance at two elementary schools and avoid a state takeover. The district will start negotiations in March with the Third Future Charter School Network to address failing accountability scores at South Waco and Dean Highland elementary schools. view article

More than 100,000 families have applied for the Texas private school voucher program as of this week, meaning the state will officially use a lottery process to determine which are first in line.  Republicans say hitting the milestone just two weeks after the application portal opened is a sign that their signature education policy, which sends state dollars to families for private tuition, books, therapy and more, is popular with the public   t also means the applicant pool likely exceeds the program’s available funding, set at $1 billion for the first year. The Texas comptroller’s office will need to run a complex lottery system to determine which applicants' families will ultimately receive the limited state dollars, and which families go on a waitlist.  view article

Killeen ISD has named an operating partner for Manor Middle School as the district works to improve state accountability ratings at the campus. Killeen ISD announced on Tuesday, Feb. 17 that the Board of Trustees had voted to approve Third Future Schools as the 2026-2029 Texas Partnership operating partner for Manor Middle School. view article

AUSTIN, Texas - Governor Greg Abbott celebrated a historic response to the Texas Education Freedom Account (TEFA) program on Monday, as more than 100,000 Texas families submitted applications in less than two weeks.   The program, the largest school choice initiative launch in U.S. history, allows eligible students to direct funding to preapproved educational providers of their choice.  Texas families can now apply for private school vouchers. Here’s what to know.  The TEFA program, overseen by Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock and the Texas Comptroller’s office, lets parents use funds to choose the schools that best meet their children’s needs, covering expenses like tuition, transportation, and other educational costs. view article

Texas voucher applications (Texas Education Freedom Accounts) opened February 4, 2026, for the 2026-27 school year, but many private schools remain excluded, primarily Islamic schools, those with ties to China, and certain specialized schools. Hundreds of Cognia-accredited schools, including some Christian and special needs institutions, are initially shut out due to vetting, though officials are reviewing them.  Key Schools and Groups Left Out:  Islamic Schools: Several Islamic schools, such as Palm Tree School, have not been invited to participate due to alleged ties to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which Governor Greg Abbott deemed a terrorist organization. Cognia-Accredited Schools: Hundreds of schools accredited by Cognia (a nonprofit accrediting body) have been excluded, with reports indicating nearly 40 schools in Austin alone, for example, were not included initially.Schools with Foreign Ties: Institutions with potential connections to the Chinese government are being restricted.  Opt-Out Schools: Many private schools, such as The Selwyn School, are choosing not to participate in the first year due to uncertainty about how the program works.  view article

Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a legal opinion on Saturday affirming that the Texas Comptroller’s Office has the "exclusive" authority to determine which private schools and education vendors are eligible to participate in the state’s new school choice program. view article

Gov. Greg Abbott sent a letter to Cy-Fair ISD leaders Wednesday demanding that they cancel a sporting event with the Islamic Games of North America scheduled for later this year, citing alleged ties to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which Abbott recently declared a "foreign terrorist organization."   "You cannot invite such dangers through the front doors of our schools," he wrote. "Radical Islamic extremism is not welcome in Texas — and certainly not in our schools."  The move comes after the Dallas-area Grapevine-Colleyville ISD canceled a similar event on Tuesday, saying that they had learned that CAIR New Jersey was a sponsor of a related event at one point, according to news reports.  view article

Gov. Greg Abbott sent a letter to Cy-Fair ISD leaders Wednesday demanding that they cancel a sporting event with the Islamic Games of North America scheduled for later this year, citing alleged ties to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which Abbott recently declared a "foreign terrorist organization."   "You cannot invite such dangers through the front doors of our schools," he wrote. "Radical Islamic extremism is not welcome in Texas — and certainly not in our schools."  The move comes after the Dallas-area Grapevine-Colleyville ISD canceled a similar event on Tuesday, saying that they had learned that CAIR New Jersey was a sponsor of a related event at one point, according to news reports.  view article

Hundreds of private schools have been shut out of Texas’ new school voucher program while the state comptroller’s office awaits a decision in its bid to block some Islamic and allegedly Chinese-linked institutions.  Nearly all schools accredited by Cognia, the largest private school accreditor in Texas, have been unable to submit applications in the month since the state began accepting them. As of Tuesday, only 30 of the 600 schools accredited solely by the nonprofit were added to the list of approved vendors, most of them offering only pre-K and kindergarten. The majority of those were added overnight on Monday, after Hearst Newspapers began inquiring about the issue. view article

pon signing school vouchers into law last May, Governor Greg Abbott pronounced that he had delivered “education freedom to every Texas family.” But the billion-dollar program, which opens to parents on February 4, has enrolled dozens of private schools that openly discriminate against Texas families on the basis of religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity, according to a Texas Observer analysis of information gathered from the schools’ websites and handboos, and survey responses and phone calls with school leaders. The Observer gathered information about all 291 schools selected by the state that offer education beyond the kindergarten level. More than 90 percent are affiliated with or owned by a religious or faith-based group, the analysis found. More than 100 of those schools require or prioritize for admission students of the same faith, and more than 60 have a written policy that discriminates against LGBTQ+ students, the schools’ own data shows. view article