Editor's note: This article has been updated to include information from a Sept. 9 hearing on the comptroller's budget request.
The Texas comptroller's office is requesting that lawmakers provide more than $2 billion for the second and third years of the state's education savings account program, which gives participating families taxpayer dollars for private education and homeschooling.
The legislature created Texas Education Freedom Accounts in 2025 and allocated $1 billion for the program's first year, the 2026-27 school year.
Nearly 110,000 students have received state dollars from the program so far, state data shows. Officials said providing another $1 billion annually would ensure the state can "maintain our current participation" in the next two years.
"It is clear that demand among Texas families exceeds the status quo," Travis Pillow, a program spokesperson, said during a Sept. 9 hearing on the budget request. "The comptroller's office hears constantly from Texas families who are eager to apply when the opportunity becomes available."
The overview
According to the comptroller's legislative appropriations request for the 2028-29 biennium, it would cost $916 million per year to continue funding the roughly 110,000 students currently enrolled in the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program. Another $82 million annually would be needed to fund siblings of participating children who will soon qualify for the program.
More than 106,000 students are on the program's waitlist, and it would cost about $980 million per year to provide funding for them. The comptroller's office is required to provide this information under state law, and it also noted that roughly 44,000 families have expressed interest in applying for the program ahead of the 2027-28 school year.
"The Comptroller’s Office expects that the interest list will only grow larger as the state continues to promote the program and participating families communicate positive experiences to others in their communities, and the state has a moral imperative to serve these children," the appropriations request reads.
The comptroller's $2 billion base budget request would not fully cover the waitlist and interest list. If lawmakers want to fund all of those students for the 2027-28 and 2028-29 school years, the request indicates that they would need to allocate approximately $4 billion.
Pillow said the large waitlist and interest list "underscore the potential for the legislature to transform more lives by expanding this program."
During the 2025 legislative session, the nonpartisan state Legislative Budget Board projected that due to demand, lawmakers would expand program funding to $3.3 billion by 2028 and $4.8 billion by 2030.
Dee Carney, director of a watchdog group called the Texas Center for Voucher Transparency, said more information is needed before lawmakers commit to increasing funding for the TEFA program.
"Good policy requires great information," Carney said during the Sept. 9 hearing. "Yet this request, as it's written, asks lawmakers to substantially increase funding for the TEFA voucher program from $1 billion to potentially $4.4 billion without enough information to evaluate it. The legislature needs a comprehensive program evaluation that includes a clear picture of who is being served and academic outcomes of its participants."
How it works
The TEFA program gives families state funds to send their children to private schools or homeschool them, with priority going to students with disabilities and children from low-income households. About 24% of students participating in the TEFA program have a disability, according to previous Community Impact reporting, and 80% of participants are from low-income families.
Republican state leaders and other proponents of the program have said it will expand educational opportunities for students who are not receiving the services or support they need in their local public schools, including those who cannot afford to pay for a private education. Critics have expressed concerns that the program will unfairly benefit students already enrolled in private schools and divert funding from public schools facing financial challenges.
Participating students are receiving $10,474 each for private education and related expenses, while homeschool families can receive up to $2,000 per eligible child. Students with disabilities are eligible for up to $30,000 each, depending on their individual needs.
About 70% of students who are participating in the TEFA program or were invited to do so already attended a private school or were homeschooled, state data shows, while the other 30% of participants were previously enrolled in a Texas public school.
"Today, I ask you to consider one simple question before Texas commits billions more top TEFA: What have we learned from the first billion?" said Rev. Mary Spradlin, who spoke on behalf of Pastors for Texas Children, a public school advocacy group. "As you've heard, 70% of this first $1 billion isn’t helping a child leave a failing public school—it is subsidizing a choice that family has already made, because their child was never in public school."
More information about the program's operation and accepted students is available here.
More details
The comptroller's office also asked for an additional $226 million to increase funding for students already enrolled in the program whose circumstances may change. The "exceptional item request," which is included alongside the base budget request, is designed to support students who will qualify for additional disability-related funding or switch educational settings, per agency documents.
Nearly 15,000 participants are expected to receive new special education documentation next school year, which would make them eligible for up to $30,000 in state funding, the request states. Roughly 7,300 students who are currently enrolled in private schools through the program also have a documented disability, per the request. On average, those students receive $10,474 for private school expenses plus an additional $5,000 for special education costs.
The comptroller's office said roughly 4,200 students who are currently enrolled in homeschools are likely to transfer to private schools during the program's second year.
Something to note
In July, Gov. Greg Abbott and legislative leaders directed nearly all state agencies to reduce their base budget requests for the 2028-29 biennium by 3%, which they said was necessary to "maintain Texas’ strong fiscal position." A few state programs, including "the continued full funding of public education" and "projected [TEFA] participation," were exempt from the reduction, officials said.
