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According to the office of acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock, all schools that are eligible and have applied—including Islamic schools—have been approved for the Texas school choice voucher program.
That means starting next year, Islamic private schools in Texas will be receiving taxpayer funds. Tony Ortiz with Current Revolt says there really wasn’t much the comptroller could have done to stop it. “We live in America, so there’s freedom of religion,” he explained. “This voucher program, especially since it’s using taxpayer dollars, it can’t discriminate how it’s used.”
He went on to say that now that the program is in place, there’s really no going back. “If you’re a Christian, you’re not happy about any of your taxpayer dollars going to Islamic schools, terrorist-associated or not. But that’s not really an option for you. It’s going to those schools.”
The good news is this isn’t a blank check for designated foreign terrorist organizations like some have feared. The comptroller’s office recently released the following statement detailing how they’ll still be making sure taxpayer dollars are stewarded properly:
The Texas Comptroller’s Office is charged with protecting taxpayer dollars.
With the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program (TEFA), we give parents the power to choose where and how their children learn. Texans have embraced this opportunity. To date, our office has received applications for more than 260,000 students, and 2,200 schools have signed up to participate. This is the largest launch of a school choice program in U.S. history.
We invite additional private schools that meet the standards outlined in Texas statutes to register for the program.
We will conduct a lottery and begin accepting students into the program in April. Parents will not have to make their final school selections until July 15, and we will continue to welcome more schools, vendors, and education services to join the program on a rolling basis. Our goal is to offer a robust variety of options to all the participating families in the program.
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts takes seriously the responsibility of being a good steward of the state’s financial resources. As we prepare to admit students into the program and begin funding their accounts on July 1, our office is committed to investigating any failure to comply with program requirements or other applicable law by any participating school or service provider. We will closely examine any credible report alleging fraud or unlawful activity by a participating school, vendor or education service. At this time, no school has received funding through this program. We will ensure that no taxpayer funding flows to organizations affiliated with foreign adversaries or terrorist organizations.
We are asking parents, schools and members of the public to report any violations of the integrity of the TEFA program to: tefa.watchdog@cpa.texas.gov
We are also committed to partnering with the Texas Legislature and other state agencies to protect the integrity of the program and to ensure our office is equipped with the strongest possible tools to do so. We will not allow bad actors to undermine the cause of education freedom or to deny students and educators the expanded opportunities that Education Freedom Accounts provide.