More than 111,000 families are taking part in Texas' private school voucher program in its first year, according to a public dashboard the state's finance chief released Oct. 29. White families and low-income families make up the largest shares of participants.
Based on the most recent available data, from the 2024-25 school year, 17% of first-year recipients attended public schools. About 83% attended private school, were home schooled or were too young to attend school that year. The largest numbers of participating families live within the boundaries of Houston, Dallas and Northside, a district in the San Antonio area.
Comptroller Don Huffines said in a statement that no Texas child should be trapped in a failing school or forced to attend a school that cannot provide the services they need for conditions such as dyslexia, dysgraphia or auditory processing disorders. Texas invested $1 billion in the program. When it became law, Republican state leaders said it would primarily benefit students with disabilities, students from low-income families and students seeking to leave their neighborhood public schools. Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, an Austin Democrat, is running against Huffines in November.