The Texas comptroller’s office asked lawmakers to double funding for the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program from $1 billion to $2 billion before the 2027 legislative session, at a Senate Education Committee hearing on Wednesday, October 7, Community Impact reported.
The committee is chaired by Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels. Travis Pillow, the comptroller’s interim TEFA program director, testified. Officials said at least $2 billion is needed simply to keep current participants enrolled, and that accepting the roughly 160,000 students on the waitlist or who have expressed interest would cost at least $4 billion.
How the program works
Texas Education Freedom Accounts is a $1 billion state education savings account program that provides public funds families can use for private school tuition or homeschooling. The Texas House passed the law creating it in April 2025, sponsored by Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Salado.
Awards run up to $10,474 per student for private education, up to $2,000 for each homeschooled child, and up to $30,000 for students with disabilities. The program has more than 116,000 participants. Data as of August 10 showed more than 118,000 students selected, about 70 percent of whom had attended private school in 2024-25 and about 30 percent of whom came from Texas public schools. About 64 percent were low income. Roughly 248,000 applicants were deemed eligible, with priority tiers favoring students with disabilities and lower income households.
What opponents told the hearing
An analysis by two groups that oppose the program, the Texas Center for Voucher Transparency and Every Texan, estimates that public schools could lose up to $294 million. Those figures are the groups’ estimates and are not state findings.
District estimates cited at a news conference included $6.6 million at Dallas ISD, $4.7 million each at Fort Worth ISD and North East ISD, $2.6 million at Garland ISD, $2.5 million at Austin ISD, $1.7 million at Alief ISD, $1.2 million at Pflugerville ISD, $623,000 at Abilene ISD, $574,000 at Granbury ISD and $492,000 at Bastrop ISD. Sen. Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio, said the school districts he represents have lost about $26 million.
Not every district reported an effect. Thrall ISD’s board president said that district does not yet know what the program’s impact has been, though comptroller data shows 38 Thrall students received TEFA funds.
No Lake Houston area district figures were presented at the hearing. Humble ISD, New Caney ISD and Sheldon ISD are among the public school districts serving this area, and all of them are funded through the same state system the committee was reviewing.
