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A technology classroom is seen at The Westview School in Houston, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. The Westview School is a private school for students with autism that is eligible for Texas’ new school voucher program, the Texas Education Freedom Accounts.<\/p>\n
Kirk Sides\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
One of the biggest selling points of Texas\u2019 new private school voucher program<\/a> was that it would support students with disabilities, offering up to $30,000 in state-funded accounts for tuition and other services.<\/p>\n The possibility drew thousands of applications from across Texas<\/a>, and hundreds of families flooded public school districts<\/a> with requests for special education evaluations to qualify for higher amounts.<\/p>\n However, fewer than 30 students with disabilities actually received the $30,000 maximum, according to data from the Comptroller\u2019s Office. That\u2019s less than 1% of applicants who indicated that they had a disability<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n NEWS: School district size can change a student’s special education voucher by thousands of dollars<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s something the Texas Education Freedom Account directors tried to warn parents about earlier this year. \u201cMost students will receive less than the maximum,\u201d a handout <\/a>about special education vouchers read.<\/p>\n But many families still hoped that they would get closer to $30,000 to pay for private schools dedicated to students with disabilities, which can easily cost between $25,000 to $60,000 a year, according to\u00a0a Chronicle analysis<\/a>. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n One in four of the over 100,000 students awarded vouchers had a documented disability, and their average funding award was about $16,000, or roughly half the maximum amount, according to the Texas Comptroller\u2019s Office. While nearly 13,000 families received more than the base amount, only around 220 families received over $20,000, records shared with the Chronicle from June 23 show.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThe headline in everything we communicated was: \u2018Homeschoolers get $2,000, private school students get $10,474 and students in special education get up to $30,000,\u2019\u201d said Travis Pillow, communications director for the education accounts. \u201cIt might be natural to see that round number and say, \u2018My student is getting $30,000.\u2019 When in reality, the \u2018up to\u2019 was very important, and the vast majority are getting less than that.\u201d<\/p>\n Dee Carney, executive director of the Texas Center for Voucher Transparency, said families told her group through its online comment form they were \u201csurprised and disappointed\u201d by the amount of funding they received. Carney said some families were also struggling to find a private school that would enroll some of those students with disabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n ALSO READ: Texas voucher program fuels surge in special education evaluations, straining public schools<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThat disconnect raises important questions about whether the program can deliver on its supporters’ promises or whether vouchers will offer more options on paper than in practice,\u201d Carney said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Funding gaps for large, small districts<\/p>\n A review of the special education funding data submitted by the Texas Education Agency \u2014 which consists of hundreds of pages\u00a0\u2014\u00a0reveals how few students could qualify for the maximum amount. One reason is that the larger the district, the smaller the voucher award for students with disabilities, as the Chronicle first reported<\/a> earlier this month.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In Houston\u00a0ISD, for example, the most a family could receive for a student who doesn’t spend any time in the general education classroom and attends a separate campus for children with disabilities is about $18,000. That’s $10,400 from the base amount all families receive, plus $7,500 for special education, but still $12,000 short of the state’s cap on voucher awards.\u00a0<\/p>\n Funding data for students in small, rural school districts shows that they could receive much more from the program, between $25,000 and $29,000.<\/p>\n The funding discrepancies are tied to the state\u2019s formula to pay for special education services in public schools. Lawmakers voted to change that from a flat-rate model to funding services based on their intensity, but that overhaul won\u2019t be complete until 2027-28.<\/p>\n