Texas school vouchers program raises questions over how families can use funds

Texas’ new school choice program has awarded funds to about 118,440 students, but as families begin using the funds, families raise questions about what the money can actually pay for and how the state-funded accounts interact with financial assistance offered by private schools.

Official response and confirmed impact

The program, known as TEFA, currently prioritizes students in two groups: low- and middle-income students with a disability, and other low-income students.

Pillow said the second group includes families earning less than $66,000 a year for a family of four.

“We have about 110,000 students who have been awarded an Education Freedom account,” Pillow said.

The program is also drawing attention because many of the students’ receiving awards were already attending private schools.

When asked about data showing that most applicants so far were already enrolled in private schools, and criticism that the program could function as a subsidy for families who already can afford private education, Pillow pointed to the legislature’s priorities.

Incident background

Travis Pillow, a spokesperson for the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program, described the program as the largest first-year school choice program in the nation’s history.