{"id":197053,"date":"2026-03-09T19:08:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T19:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/197053\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T19:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T19:08:09","slug":"majority-of-texas-school-voucher-applicants-already-attend-private-schools-data-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/197053\/","title":{"rendered":"Majority of Texas school voucher applicants already attend private schools, data shows"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Gov. Greg Abbott waves to the crowd during a Houston tour stop to drum up support for school vouchers. Credit: Instagram \/ governorabbott<\/p>\n

More than three-quarters of the 152,389 Texas students whose families applied to enroll in the state\u2019s school voucher program already attended private campuses this year, according to data from Texas Center for Voucher Transparency<\/a> (TCVT).<\/p>\n

Indeed, just 24% of students who applied for the state\u2019s controversial program as of Wednesday attended Texas public schools, including public pre-K, according to data the advocacy group obtained from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarly voucher application data suggests that the overwhelming majority of families continue to choose and trust their local public schools to educate their children,\u201d TCVT Director Dee Carney said in a statement. <\/p>\n

The 76% of students whose families applied for the voucher program will enter grades Pre-K through 12 in the 2026-2027 school year. <\/p>\n

State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, who last week accepted her party\u2019s gubernatorial nomination<\/a>, said TCVT\u2019s numbers show that Texas\u2019 school voucher legislation only helps the already well-off. <\/p>\n

The program, which promises $10,000 to qualifying families per student, was championed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, Hinojosa\u2019s opponent in the primary. The vouchers are paid for by Texas taxpayers. <\/p>\n

\u201cAbbott is taking money from 5.5 million public school kids to instead serve his rich donors,\u201d Hinojosa said in a text message to the Current. \u201cThat\u2019s the Greg Abbott Corruption Tax, and working Texans are done paying for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joshua Cowen, a school voucher skeptic and professor of education policy at Michigan State who testified against Texas\u2019 voucher bill last year at the State Capitol, told the Current the data is on par with other states that have enacted similar legislation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s uncanny,\u201d Cowen said. \u201cI\u2019ve been warning about this in 23 other states, and there\u2019s nothing in the Texas legislation that I haven\u2019t seen in a dozen other states \u2014 and it\u2019s exactly the same result.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of those who applied for vouchers in Texas, a plurality, or 31%, are from middle-class and upper-middle-class families earning between 200% and 500% of the federal poverty level, TCVT\u2019s numbers show. For those who struggle with statistics, that\u2019s between $66,000 and $160,000 a year.\u200b<\/p>\n

Not quite \u201cwelfare for the rich,\u201d as some critics charge. Still, the data shows Texas upper-middle class families are reaping much of the rewards, according to Cowen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI call typical private schools \u2018subprime,\u2019 because they\u2019re not particularly good,\u201d Cowen said. \u201cA lot of them [operate] out of church basements, double-wide trailers or something like that. The people using these are not the wealthiest in the state. The point is that they were already in private school to begin with.\u201d\u200b<\/p>\n

Indeed, two of the top-ranked private schools<\/a> in San Antonio, TMI Episcopal and the Keystone School, which charge around $30,000 in tuition per high-school student, aren\u2019t accepting vouchers, according to the Texas Education Freedom Accounts website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Neither school immediately responded to the Current\u2019s request for comment. However, the trend in San Antonio is similar to that seen in Dallas, where at least four of the top 10 private schools aren\u2019t participating in the voucher program, the Dallas Morning News reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cowen said it\u2019s possible Texas\u2019 elite schools may begin accepting vouchers as the program progresses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure those schools with high tuitions have private endowments and financial aid packages for a handful of kids who get in and qualify,\u201d he said. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be surprised if, over time, what they do is decide that they can keep making their endowment without having to dip into it because of vouchers. They won\u2019t change admission standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, even with a $10,000 voucher from the state of Texas, the admission costs for TMI and Keystone will remain out of reach for most San Antonio families, Cowen noted. <\/p>\n

Texas school voucher applications for the 2026-27 school year remain open through March 17.<\/p>\n

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