As local districts prepare for a new school year, district officials are waiting to see how the new Texas Education Freedom Accounts will affect enrollment.
The big picture
State lawmakers created the TEFA program in 2025, and accepted students will receive some funding for education opportunities that include: private school tuition and fees; tutoring and therapy; homeschooling; and other services. Funding is capped at $1 billion for the first year of the program, and about 122,000 students of the over 274,000 who applied have been accepted, including 85,344 participants who have received funding.
Accepted students who are enrolling in private schools are set to receive $10,474 to spend on tuition and related expenses. Meanwhile, homeschool students are eligible for $2,000 each, and students with disabilities can receive up to $30,000 each, depending on their individual needs.
Students with disabilities who come from low- and middle-income households are given priority for funds, followed by children from low-income households.
Locally, Katy ISD saw 5,108 students who live in district boundaries—the eighth highest in the state—apply for the TEFA program for the 2026-27 school year, while Lamar CISD saw 3,855 students apply, data shows.
However, Lamar CISD officials said the district has had a “minimal number of students” who withdrew go to private schools.
Katy ISD officials declined to comment.
Zooming in
Over 2,700 private schools—including more than 60 Katy and Fulshear-area schools—have been approved to accept TEFA funding alongside hundreds of tutoring groups, therapy centers and other service providers.
Unlike Texas public schools, state law does not require schools participating in the program to accept all interested families.
In several states with similar programs, enrollment data shows that a majority of participants were already enrolled in private schools when they joined the program. As of June 10, Texas data shows that 43% of students selected for the program attended a public school in the 2024-25 school year and 57% were enrolled in a private school or homeschooled.
Laura Hogan, the academic administrator at Mirus Academy in Katy, said while her school does accept TEFA, she personally believes the funding should not be necessary to further educational opportunities.
“I don’t think we should be pulling funds from public schools—public schools are the foundation of our society,” Hogan said. “We are an alternative to public schools when those public schools don’t seem to be working for certain populations of students, but ideally, our school shouldn’t exist—the public schools should be meeting all students’ needs.”
However, Texas Comptroller Don Huffines said this gives parents more control over education.
“I am committed to improving and growing this program so every Texas child can have the opportunity to reach their dreams,” newly-appointed Huffines said in an Aug. 3 news release.
Why it matters
Public school districts receive funding based on attendance rather than total enrollment, according to the Texas Association of School Boards. Attendance is taken daily, and a formula is used to determine how much funding each district receives.
TASB found that a district loses $45 per child for every day missed from school.
Toni Templeton, a research scientist at the University of Houston Education Research Center, said the TEFA program can put pressure on ISDs not only for funding they receive from the state, but in some rural areas, public schools are the largest employers in the region.
“When you put in policies like the [TEFA] program, that would pull public school dollars away from the public school system, you are not only reducing the educational opportunity that those dollars could fund for students, but also you could be creating unemployment issues for parents and families in those smaller regions,” Templeton said.
What's being done?
Katy ISD and Lamar CISD are both launching and continuing new programs in the 2026-27 school year aimed at retaining and recruiting students.
Emily Craig, Katy ISD’s assistant superintendent of school leadership and campus support, said the district is launching its Legacy Virtual High School to allow students and families more flexibility.
Additionally, Katy ISD offers limited open enrollment at the high school level for neighboring students to have the opportunity to join the district, as well as recently launched tuition pre-K opportunities for non-teacher employees.
Meanwhile, Chief Learning Officer Christi Cottongame said Lamar CISD will open Bright Futures Academy in 2026-27 for students with disabilities, along with the district’s new career and technical education center.
Lamar CISD will also be continuing its “Innovative Learning” program where experts from multiple fields visit campuses to teach students skills outside of the standard curriculum.
Stay tuned
Texas has the largest program waitlist in the nation with more than 121,000 eligible students waiting to join the program, according to the Texas Comptroller’s office.
Some state lawmakers have indicated that they want to increase state funding for the TEFA program during the 2027 legislative session.
However, due to its infancy, Templeton said the long term effects are unknown.
