Voucher Deadline Extended Over Lawsuit From Islamic Schools

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Critics warned last May that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s “voucher scam” wouldn’t be useful in helping poor kids get a private-school education and would deteriorate the already struggling public school system. What some didn’t see coming, however, was that the program would come under fire for discriminating against youth enrolled in Islamic schools. Senate Bill 2 was advertised as landmark school choice legislation that would empower Texas families to choose the education pathway that is best for their child. But it was suggested early on that Abbott wanted to incentivize families to send their kids to private schools, especially those that espouse conservative Christian values. Some of those concerns appear to have been substantiated when Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock, the state’s CFO who manages the voucher program, blocked Islamic schools from participating in the program, claiming that some are associated with foreign terrorist organizations. Applications for vouchers — about $10,000 per student for each qualifying family — were originally due by March 17, but have now been extended through the end of the month, based on a federal judge’s ruling citing the exclusion of Islamic schools from the program. U.S. District Judge Alfred Bennett issued an order on March 17 preventing the state from considering which families will receive voucher funding until after the new deadline on March 31. Bennett demanded that the state update its voucher application website and provide parents and schools that sued over religious discrimination an opportunity to register — although they’re not guaranteed approval. One day after Bennett’s ruling, two Islamic schools — one in Garland and one in McKinney — told CBS News they’d been allowed to participate in the program despite previously being blocked. It was later reported that all the Islamic schools that sued were accepted into the program, including one in Galveston County and one in Katy. Four Muslim parents and four Islamic private schools sued state officials, including Hancock, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath, earlier this month, saying the exclusion amounts to religious discrimination. The state has approved more than 2,200 schools for the voucher program and none were Islamic, claims one of the plaintiffs, Mehdi Cherkaoui, a Muslim attorney whose children attend Houston Quran Academy in Katy. Cherkaoui says in the lawsuit that he’s aware of at least 30 Islamic schools that applied to receive vouchers. The Harris County resident says he pays $18,000 in tuition each year for both children and hoped to offset the costs with vouchers but was unable to submit an application. According to the lawsuit, “The exclusion is not based on individualized findings of unlawful conduct by any specific school, but rather on categorical presumptions that Islamic schools are suspect and potentially linked to terrorism by virtue of their religious identity and community associations.” According to its website, HQA Spring is the largest Islamic school in the Houston area. Its vision is to develop “committed, balanced Muslims, knowledgeable scholars, contributing citizens and community builders. The next hearing on school vouchers and application opportunities is scheduled for late April in Bennett’s court. At that time, the judge could extend the application deadline again. Gov. Greg Abbott poses with students from Brazosport Christian Academy at the signing of Senate Bill 2 in May 2025. Credit: Office of Governor Greg Abbott Meanwhile, criticism of the voucher program is mounting in the wake of the lawsuits and approaching deadlines to register students for the fall term at private schools. The National Coalition for Public Education says most voucher recipients are wealthy families whose kids already attend, and therefore can afford, private schools. Carrie Griffith, executive director of nonprofit Our Schools, Our Democracy, said the extended application deadline compresses an already tight timeline for the state to launch the voucher program and for families to make vital educational decisions for their children. “While the comptroller continues to highlight raw numbers of applications, Texans are left to wonder if our tax dollars are being used to support religious discrimination,” Griffith said. Hancock claims that schools accredited by Cognia hosted events with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights group that sued Abbott when he designated it a terrorist organization. Paxton’s office argued in court filings that the comptroller has not denied any private schools from participating. Rather, Cognia “erroneously” listed schools as accredited without completing the process. CAIR responded to the judge’s ruling this week by issuing a statement urging re-evaluation of the application process. “The lack of approved Islamic schools raises important questions about whether the program is being implemented in a fair, inclusive and nondiscriminatory manner,” the statement reads. “We urge state officials to take immediate steps to ensure that faith-based schools, including Islamic institutions, are given a fair opportunity to participate.” Texas budgeted $1 billion for the 2026-27 school year and announced plans for the “largest day-one launch in the country.” Abbott tried to pass the program in 2023 but was blocked by Texas Democrats, so he campaigned to replace the lawmakers who opposed the program with Republicans who would — and ultimately did — vote in favor of vouchers in ‘25. The Texas Tribune reported this week that at least 71 percent of Texas voucher applicants come from families whose children attended a private school or homeschool during the 2024-25 academic year, according to data released earlier this month and confirmed by the comptroller. Hancock has said he will use a lottery system to determine how the state will distribute the $1 billion, with priority given to students with disabilities and from low-income households. Most applicants, to date, are in the Houston area, followed by Richardson, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin. The post Voucher Deadline Extended Over Lawsuit From Islamic Schools appeared first on Houston Press.

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