Texas school choice program gets 241,000 applications for 90,000 spots
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Texas parents have flocked to a school choice program that has far exceeded the initial 90,000 places available for the program.
Applications for Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) surpassed 200,000 students ahead of Tuesday’s deadline, according to the Texas Comptroller’s Office.
The program is set to serve between 90,000 and 100,000 students. More than 240,000 applications have been submitted so far. Governor Greg Abbott‘s office has been verified.
“The demand for school choice in Texas is huge. More than 241,000 students applied for the first year of the school choice program, and the legislature initially provided $1 billion in funding for the program, meaning roughly 90,000 children could participate in the first year,” Tommy Schultz, CEO of the American Federation for Children, told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
In total, the Federation of American Child Growth Fund, a school choice group, spent nearly $2 million on enrollment marketing efforts in Texas to raise parents’ awareness of TEFA.
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Texas parents have flocked to a school choice program that has far exceeded the initial 90,000 places available for the program. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
“This gives Governor Greg Abbott and the Legislature a major victory on signature policy success, while also giving them hard data that this program needs to be greatly expanded,” Schultz continued.
TEFA is a government-created education savings account program backed by an initial investment of $1 billion. The legislation has introduced new competition to the education landscape by giving parents options outside of their child’s neighborhood school, creating challenges for districts struggling to retain students.
More than 42,000 applications were submitted on the first day the portal was open, and Eduardo Leal, a spokesman for Governor Abbott’s office, said in February that it was the “largest first-day school choice program in the nation.”
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Applications for Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) surpassed 200,000 students just before Tuesday’s deadline, according to the Texas Comptroller’s Office. (Getty Images)
“At the same time, the over-subscribed program is a crushing defeat for radical unions who say Texans don’t want school choice. Unions’ dominance over our children’s K-12 education will soon end,” Schultz told Fox News Digital.
Abbott signed the Texas Education Freedom Act in May 2025. The journey to the legislation’s signing has been tumultuous for Abbott and state Republicans, who have struggled to unite members of his party on his school choice agenda.
The historical presentation of the program sounds like this: Big city school districts are struggling To keep students in school since the coronavirus outbreak. These include Houston Independent School District (HISD), Those who implemented the closure plan 12 schools unanimously due to declining enrollment.
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HISD Superintendent Mike Miles spoke with Fox News Digital in January about declining enrollment. (iStock)
HISD Superintendent Mike Miles spoke with Fox News Digital in January about the enrollment decline, citing nationwide enrollment trends and efforts to appeal to parents. Competition with charter schools is heating up.
On Feb. 12, the district announced that its plan to close schools “is to take steps necessary to ensure the long-term strength, sustainability, and quality of education for all students.”
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