Texas Voucher Returns

Thousands of Texas Students With Disabilities Return State School Vouchers

The Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) promised that vouchers would provide students with special needs options beyond public schools. Despite receiving taxpayer-funded funds, many families struggled to find a suitable school to use it. Critics argue that private education is still out of reach for Texas' most vulnerable children. While 29,400 applicants with disabilities were deemed eligible, at least 7,400 have since returned their voucher. The Texas comptroller's office plans to survey families to understand why they opted out, and their responses will inform improvements made to the program. Students with special education face an uphill battle gaining admission to private schools due to lag behind their peers in criteria, like academic and discipline records.