Comptroller asks lawmakers to double Texas Education Freedom Account funding to $2B

"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.