NOTE: This article has been updated with a statement from Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock.
An Obama-appointed federal judge has extended the state’s application deadline for its new school choice program to March 31, while lawsuits proceed over the exclusion of Islamic schools. The original deadline was Tuesday at 11:59 p.m.
U.S. District Court Judge Alfred Bennett of the Southern District of Texas in Houston reportedly called the lack of Islamic schools “troubling.”
There are two federal lawsuits currently before Judge Bennett challenging Texas’ exclusion of certain Islamic private schools from the program for having terrorist ties. Earlier this week, the State advised the court that it is unopposed to consolidating the two cases.
In December 2025, Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock requested Attorney General Ken Paxton’s legal opinion on whether certain private schools may be barred from participating in the program due to potential ties to terrorist organizations or foreign adversaries.
Some prospective Texas Education Freedom Account (TEFA) applicants are accredited through Cognia, a Texas Private School Accreditation Commission-approved accrediting agency, but operate at addresses that have hosted publicly advertised events organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Gov. Greg Abbott designated CAIR as both a foreign terrorist organization and a transnational criminal organization under Texas law last year.
In January, Paxton issued a legal opinion affirming that the Texas Comptroller’s Office has the “exclusive” authority to determine which private schools and education vendors are eligible to participate in the TEFA program.
Paxton wrote that TEFA participation is also conditioned on compliance with “other relevant laws,” including bans on aiding foreign terrorist organizations and restrictions on property ownership by transnational criminal organizations. Schools or vendors that violate those laws can be deemed ineligible for the program.
In a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, Hancock said the extension gives “additional opportunity” for families to apply.
“We look forward to building on the record-setting demand for educational options that we have seen over the first six weeks,” he said, noting that more than 229,000 students have applied for the program, more than double what lawmakers budgeted.
Entry to the program is not determined by when the application was made. Instead, accounts will be awarded on a lottery system based on student and family needs, regardless of when an application is submitted.
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