Alex Narvaez never thought he could afford to send his sons to private school.
The Houston-area father says bullying and safety concerns made him want to look for alternatives to public school. But with three children, ages 9, 12 and 13, and a family income of less than $66,000 a year, he said private school tuition was out of reach.
That changed when his family was accepted into Texas’ new school voucher program.
Today, his sons attend St. Anne’s Catholic School in Tomball. The vouchers cover more than $30,000 in annual tuition for all three of the boys.
But now Narvaez is worried that state money could disappear.
“If they repeal it, then there’s no chance of me being able to afford tuition for three kids at private school,” he said.
Democratic lawmakers have already begun filing bills to repeal the education savings accounts program, just months after families began using taxpayer dollars to pay for private education and homeschooling expenses.
Democratic Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa campaigned against the voucher program, arguing that public dollars should be spent on public education.
Narvaez is a Democrat, too, and doesn’t disagree. But he doesn’t believe the state has to choose between funding public schools and offering families other options.
“You can fund public schools and also create a choice program,” he said. “Just like any new program, improvements can be done … without a full repeal.”
During the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers approved $1 billion for the Texas Education Freedom Accounts, or TEFA, program, which launched this school year. Participating families can receive roughly $10,500 per student for private school tuition and other approved expenses. Homeschooling families can receive up to $2,000 per student, while eligible students with disabilities can qualify for up to $30,000.
More than 110,000 students are participating.
According to data from the Texas Comptroller’s Office, which oversees the program, 53% of participating students previously attended private school, while at least 17% attended public school during the 2024–25 school year. That’s around 19,000 students.
“More people need to know that it’s not just these people were already in private school. They could already afford it. They already had the choice,” Narvaez said. “I didn’t have a choice.”
A former public school teacher chooses homeschooling
In Farmersville, northeast of Dallas, Rachel Pearce left her teaching job four years ago homeschool her three children.
Pearce spent eight years working in public schools. Her mother was also a longtime educator and principal. Pearce said she believes teachers deserve better pay, and she doesn’t want the voucher program to take money away from public education.
But after years in the classroom, she became frustrated with what she describes as excessive testing and students falling behind academically.
“Every single Friday, almost all day long is spent doing tests,” she said. “We’re doing a math test, a reading test … a spelling test, a social studies test, a science test.”
Pearce said she calculated that her students were taking roughly 70 tests a year just on Fridays.
“I don’t think that it’s developmentally appropriate for second graders to be sitting at a desk almost all day long with less than 20 minutes of recess, taking tests almost all day on Friday,” she said.
Pearce said she didn’t want that for her three school-aged children. Her family was already homeschooling before the voucher program began. But she said the additional $2 ,000 for each child has allowed her to purchase educational materials and enrichment activities she couldn’t previously afford.
Pearce believes the TEFA program could be improved, particularly for homeschooling families with children who have disabilities. She said her oldest child has dyslexia, and the state funds don’t cover all of his educational needs. Still, she worries about losing the financial assistance altogether.
“It’s just nerve-wracking knowing that the program could be totally eliminated just like that,” she said.
For another family, private school means staying connected to their religious community
Emily Yaffe of Leander, near Austin, said the voucher program has helped her family afford a Jewish education for their children.
Yaffe has two young kids attending Hadar Jewish Classical Academy in Austin.
She drives about an hour each way to the school, but without a synagogue nearby, she said this is the only way to connect to their faith community.
“We do want our kids to have a basis in Jewish knowledge, and Jewish education is a way to get that,” Yaffe said. “Also, this school happens to also teach Hebrew, which I do not know fluently or very, very conversationally, but this school is a Hebrew immersion. But just having a second language in general is a huge boon these days.”
She said her family earns too much to qualify for free public pre-k but struggles with the cost of private preschool. And, while the school does offer scholarships, Yaffe said it told families to apply for vouchers first.
Yaffe estimated that the vouchers cover roughly $10,000 per child for the half-day program.
She said she understands why lawmakers might want to tighten the program’s rules, but she questions eliminating it entirely.
“Let’s audit it. Let’s make it more streamlined,” she said.“Let us make sure the money is really going to the people who need it.”
What happens if the funding disappears?
Austin education attorney Scott Schneider advises independent and private schools on education policy. He said the concerns raised by these families reflect a larger question about the TEFA program’s future.
Texas lawmakers funded the program for its first school year, but continued funding is not guaranteed.
Schneider said some schools worried about admitting students whose families could afford tuition only because of the vouchers. If the state stops providing the money, he said, those families could be forced to withdraw their children.
“If you suddenly pull the rug out from under them … and say we’re done with this — is that fair, is it healthy?” Schneider said.
He said students who have already adjusted to new schools could face another transition, potentially disrupting their education.
Families are asking Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session in an effort to fund school vouchers for the 2027-28 school year.
Schneider also said lawmakers could consider allowing families already using vouchers to continue receiving funding even if the program is eliminated or significantly changed for new applicants.
But he said families who have come to depend on the voucher dollars are now caught in the middle of a political debate.
“I’m sympathetic to any family that, hey, I’ve got a young child, I put them in school. We’d like to continue them in that school, but we can’t do that without access to this program,” Schneider said.
“Those families in particular are sort of caught in the crossfire.”
Sujata Dand is KERA’s early childhood reporter. Got a tip? Email Sujata at sdand@kera.org.
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