Overview
- Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock asked Attorney General Ken Paxton on Dec. 12 whether private schools tied to a designated terrorist group or a foreign adversary can be excluded from Texas’ new voucher program.
- Hancock’s letter cited schools that hosted publicly advertised events by the Council on American‑Islamic Relations and raised concerns about one school that may be owned or controlled by a group connected to a Chinese government adviser.
- He pointed to recently enacted restrictions on property ownership and influence by entities tied to China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as potentially relevant to eligibility determinations.
- Gov. Greg Abbott has designated CAIR a terrorist organization, and CAIR has sued over the designation while warning that penalizing schools for hosting its civil‑rights sessions would raise First Amendment issues.
- Attorney general opinions are nonbinding but often shape agency actions; the $1 billion program has begun accepting providers, with about 600 schools and 200 vendors applying, family applications opening Feb. 4, and funds slated for the 2026–2027 school year.