The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts has the authority to block some Islamic and Chinese-linked private schools from participating in the state’s new education savings account program, according to an opinion issued Saturday by Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Kelly Hancock, the acting state comptroller, requested an opinion from the attorney general’s office last month on whether certain schools could be shut out of the program over alleged links to the Chinese Communist Party or the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which Gov. Greg Abbott has designated a terror group.
In his opinion, Paxton wrote that the comptroller’s office has “full, exclusive statutory authority” to block private schools from participating in the program based on their political affiliations.
“Let me be crystal clear: Texans’ tax dollars should never fund Islamic terrorists or America’s enemies,” Paxton said. “The Comptroller’s Office has always possessed exclusive authority under the TEFA framework to stop any school illegally tied to terrorists or foreign adversaries from accessing taxpayer dollars, and this opinion affirms that authority. There is no question that the Comptroller’s Office is statutorily charged with ensuring that our school choice program is protected from abuse by terrorists or the Chinese Communist Party.”
The Education Lab
Related
TEFA stands for Texas Education Freedom Accounts, the name of the state’s school voucher-like program approved by the Texas Legislature last year.
On Jan. 13, the Houston Chronicle reported that hundreds of private schools across the state had been unable to access the program. Nearly all schools accredited by Cognia, the largest private school accreditor in the state, were unable to submit applications.
Rabbi Shalom Meltzer, executive director of the Texas Torah Institute, told The Dallas Morning News that he tried to submit an application on behalf of the Dallas-based school on Dec. 29, but was unable to complete it. The school is accredited by Cognia.
“They just seem to not have their act together,” Meltzer said.
Related
The education savings account program will begin in the 2026-27 school year. So far more than 1,300 schools, including more than 350 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have been approved to accept funds from the program.
The application portal for families to apply for an account opens Feb. 4.
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.