With the K-12 school year underway, a handful of states are entering the first full year of programs that provide public funding for students to attend private schools. Perhaps the most sweeping and high-profile program is in Texas, where Republican Governor Greg Abbott finally made good on his decade-long promise to implement a school voucher program.
The voucher program, known as “Texas Education Freedom Accounts,” provides up to $10,474 per qualifying child to offset tuition at approved private schools during the 2026-2027 academic year. Students with disabilities can receive three times that amount, while homeschool students can receive up to $2,000.
In addition to Establishment Clause concerns about tax dollars funding religious schools, critics argued during the legislative process that the program would essentially be a discount for families with students already enrolled in private schools. They reasoned that since “Freedom Accounts” cover only a portion of yearly tuition for most private schools, it wouldn’t benefit students from struggling schools, which the program’s supporters claimed it was for.
So have these concerns proven to be valid? Early data suggested it had. Since then, Texas officials have made it harder to tell.
In March, the Houston Chronicle reported that among early program applicants, three-fourths (76%) were enrolled in private schools or were homeschooled during the 2024-2025 academic year. In the June update from the Texas State Comptroller, those rates had evened out somewhat, with 57% of applicants coming from private schools or homeschool and 43% from public schools.
However, by the end of this summer, state officials had stopped reporting on where program participants had gone to school in previous years. When asked for this updated information, the state comptroller told the Chronicle that it wasn’t required by law to provide this information.
The information it is required to disclose, however, reveals racial disparities among students who have received tuition subsidies for private or homeschool.
Almost 40% of program participants are white, 28% are Hispanic, and 14% are Black. For the 2024-2025 school year, the Texas Education Agency reported that 24% of the students in public schools were white, 53% were Hispanic, and almost 13% were Black.
Other states such as Florida and Indiana that have recently introduced or expanded voucher programs report similar findings on racial disparities and participation by students who were already enrolled in private schools or homeschooled.
In Texas, the new program comes amid a crisis of public school closures. According to the non-profit organization Our Schools Our Democracy, almost 170 public or public charter schools have been closed or considered for closure since the 2024-2025 school year. This is occurring as the Texas Comptroller suggests the private school funding program could almost double in the next legislative session, swelling to $4.4 billion.
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