The Texas comptroller has accepted a number of Islamic personal colleges into the state’s voucher program after the establishments sued to achieve admittance.
4 Muslim dad and mom and three Islamic personal college suppliers that function 4 campuses had sued Texas leaders for excluding the faculties whereas accepting a whole bunch of different non-Islamic colleges.
The 2 federal lawsuits requested the court docket to dam the personal college voucher program from discriminating on the idea of faith. As a part of the dispute, U.S. District Decide Alfred Bennett hasextended the voucher software deadline to March 31 and ordered the state to think about the faculties’ request to hitch the voucher program. The following listening to is about for April 24.
The primary lawsuit, filed March 1 by a mother or father performing on behalf of two youngsters who attend a Houston personal college, names Texas Lawyer Normal Ken Paxton, Appearing Comptroller Kelly Hancock and Training Commissioner Mike Morath as defendants. A second go well with filed March 11 by three dad and mom and three colleges names Hancock and Mary Katherine Stout, the voucher program director, as defendants. The 2 circumstances at the moment are consolidated into one.
Right here’s what to know.
Background: Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Invoice 2 into legislation in 2025, which approved the creation of a statewide program that permits households to make use of public funds to pay for his or her youngsters’s personal college or home-school training.
Between Feb. 4 and March 31, nearly any household with school-age youngsters in Texas can apply to take part. A lottery will decide who can obtain the funds, pending their acceptance to a personal college. Non-public colleges considering becoming a member of this system can apply on a rolling foundation, so long as they’ve existed for at the least two years and obtained accreditation.
Greater than 200,000 college students have utilized, whereas greater than 2,200 personal colleges have been accepted.
Hancock — Texas’ chief monetary officer whose workplace oversees the voucher program — in late 2025 requested an opinion from Paxton, asking if he may exclude colleges from the voucher program primarily based on their connections to teams designated as international terrorist organizations or international adversaries.
Hancock mentioned colleges related to the accreditation firm Cognia had hosted occasions organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group that Gov. Greg Abbott lately designated a terrorist group. CAIR has sued Abbott over the label, calling it defamatory and false. The U.S. State Division has not designated the group a terrorist group.
Texas Republicans have made anti-Muslim rhetoric a focus throughout main election season. Hancock, appointed by the governor on an interim foundation, ran to serve a full time period as comptroller earlier than dropping his race.
Hancock shut a whole bunch of Cognia-accredited colleges out of the voucher program, together with those who primarily serve Muslim college students, Christian college students and kids with disabilities, which the Houston Chronicle first reported.
Paxton launched an opinion in January stating his perception that Hancock has the authority to dam sure colleges from collaborating in this system if they’re “illegally tied to terrorists or international adversaries.” Earlier than the lawsuit, no Islamic colleges had been identified to have been accepted into the state voucher program.
The comptroller’s workplace mentioned it started inviting teams of Cognia colleges that it considers in compliance with the legislation to take part, although it’s unclear what that overview entails. The Cognia colleges accepted into this system didn’t embody any Islamic establishments till after the federal court docket intervened.
In mid-February, Texas Senate Democrats referred to as on Hancock to manage this system in a fashion “impartial, clear and in keeping with the legislation and to instantly stop discriminatory and exclusionary practices that single out sure communities with out lawful justification.”
Why the dad and mom sued: Mehdi Cherkaoui, a Muslim father of two youngsters and lawyer representing himself within the March 1 lawsuit, argued that state leaders “have systematically focused Islamic colleges for exclusion.”
The Islamic colleges blocked from becoming a member of this system meet the voucher program’s eligibility necessities and “haven’t any precise connection to terrorism or illegal exercise,” the lawsuit states. That features Houston Qur’an Academy Spring, a personal college attended by Cherkaoui’s two youngsters.
Cherkaoui pays virtually $18,000 per 12 months in tuition for his youngsters on the Houston personal college and desires to use for the almost $10,500 per baby in voucher funding to offset these prices, in keeping with the lawsuit. However with Islamic colleges blocked from collaborating in this system, the go well with says, Cherkaoui can not full the appliance.
“The exclusion will not be primarily based on individualized findings of illegal conduct by any particular college, however relatively on categorical presumptions that Islamic colleges are suspect and doubtlessly linked to terrorism by advantage of their non secular id and neighborhood associations,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit names Hancock, the comptroller, due to his function overseeing this system; Paxton, the lawyer basic, due to his authorized opinion backing Hancock; and Morath, the training commissioner, as a result of his company works with the comptroller’s workplace on sure program situations.
Morath doesn’t oversee personal colleges in Texas, however colleges within the voucher program should obtain accreditation from organizations acknowledged by his company or the Texas Non-public Faculty Accreditation Fee.
Earlier than the voucher program’s originalMarch 17 deadline for household purposes, the lawsuit requested that the court docket require the state to just accept all Islamic colleges that meet program necessities and forestall the state from delaying or denying approval primarily based on colleges’ non secular id, alleged “Islamic ties,” or “generalized associations with Islamic civil-rights or neighborhood organizations absent individualized, adjudicated findings of illegal conduct.”
The second lawsuit, filed March 11, makes comparable requests. The go well with was filed by Bayaan Academy, the Islamic Companies Basis (Little Horizons Academy and Brighter Horizons Academy), and The Eagle Institute (Excellence Academy), which function personal colleges in Galveston, Dallas and Collin counties, respectively. Three dad and mom additionally listed as plaintiffs — Layla Daoudi, Muna Hamadah and Farhana Querishi — have youngsters at present enrolled in personal colleges which can be a part of the lawsuit.
Hancock, Paxton and Morath didn’t reply to requests for remark.
How the state responded: In court docket filings, Paxton’s workplace argued that as a result of households who apply for the voucher program do not need to pick out a college till July 15, they don’t seem to be harmed by the exclusion of Islamic colleges.
Paxton’s workplace additionally mentioned the comptroller’s workplace has not “denied” any personal colleges from collaborating till the July 15 deadline passes. Cognia-accredited colleges require unbiased overview, the state argued, because of the firm “erroneously” itemizing colleges as accredited with out finishing ultimate steps. The Islamic colleges suing the state are accredited by Cognia, the legal professionals famous.
The faculties’ “accidents will solely manifest if the Comptroller denies their respective purposes or in any other case fails to find out eligibility by July 15,” Paxton’s authorized submitting mentioned.
The state additionally argued “it could be essentially unfair” to increase the appliance deadline and “disrupt” the academic plans of a whole bunch of 1000’s of fogeys.
“It’s noteworthy that, because the day turns over to 12:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 18, neither Guardian Plaintiffs nor Faculty Plaintiffs will immediately start to expertise hurt,” the legal professionals wrote. “The Guardian Plaintiffs will all nonetheless be eligible for the lottery and be capable to direct funds to an authorised college of their selection at a later date if they’re chosen within the lottery. Faculty Plaintiffs will nonetheless presumably be below overview by the Comptroller.”
The court docket ruling and its aftermath: A March 17 order from U.S. District Decide Alfred Bennett prevents the state from contemplating which households will obtain college voucher funding till after the order expires March 31, although Bennett may prolong it.
It additionally requires the state to replace its voucher software web site to replicate the brand new deadline and supply the faculties that filed the lawsuit a chance to register for this system. It doesn’t require the state so as to add them to the record of authorised colleges.
The comptroller’s workplace mentioned March 19 that it accepted into this system colleges that sued and that of a mother or father named within the lawsuit.
“The continuing course of to overview and add extra colleges can also be persevering with,” comptroller spokesperson Travis Pillow mentioned.
Ayden Runnels contributed to this story.
This text first appeared on The Texas Tribune.
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Greater than 200,000 college students have utilized for state cash for personal college. Most attended personal college or home-school final college 12 months, early information exhibits.
Each fits keep the state is participating in non secular discrimination by reducing off state voucher cash to Islamic personal campuses.
The federal lawsuit argues Texas officers are participating in non secular discrimination by stopping Islamic personal colleges from accessing state voucher cash.
