TEXAS — Acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock is attempting to keep some schools with alleged Islamic and Chinese ties from accessing the new Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) program.
Through the program, private schools, homeschools and other “alternative education options” can receive state funding for tuition, textbooks, computers, tutoring and more, according to the Austin American-Statesman. These items and services must be from state-approved sources.
The private schools Hancock is eyeing have not been named, but in a letter to Attorney General Ken Paxton, Hancock sought legal clarity regarding blocking institutions “based at an address that have hosted publicly advertised events organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)” from participating in TEFA. Gov. Greg Abbott named CAIR as a “foreign terrorist organization” in mid-November and received a lawsuit from the group days later.
Hancock also claimed in the letter that one school potentially applying for TEFA may have connections to “an adviser to the Chinese communist government.”
All the schools in question are recognized by Cognia, a school accreditation nonprofit approved by the Texas Private School Accreditation Commission (TEPSAC), according to the letter.
TEFA funds are set to take effect in the 2026-27 school year.
“The people of Texas deserve the highest assurance that no taxpayer dollars will be used, directly or indirectly, to support institutions with ties to a foreign terrorist organization, a transnational criminal network, or any adversarial foreign government,” Hancock wrote.