A federal judge ordered Texas to extend its application deadline for private school vouchers in response to lawsuits filed by Muslims parents and schools excluded from the program.
Four parents and three private Islamic schools involved in the litigation said the state discriminated against them because of their religion.
Texas Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock, who oversees the voucher program, has denied Islamic schools from participating in the program due to claims some of them are associated with international terrorist groups, The Texas Tribune reported.
Kelly Hancock
“Hancock has said schools accredited by the company Cognia hosted events organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group that Gov. Greg Abbott recently designated a terrorist organization. CAIR has sued Abbott over the label, calling it defamatory and false. The U.S. State Department has not designated the organization a terrorist group.”
Before the court order was handed down, applications for private school vouchers for the 2026-2027 school year had to be submitted by 11:59 p.m. March 17.
The Tribune previously reported that one of the lawsuits was filed March 1 by a parent on behalf of two children against Hancock, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Education Commissioner Mike Morath. Litigation filed March 11 by three schools and three parents named Hancock and Katherine Stout, manager of the state’s education saving program, as defendants.
The actions stem from Hancock’s 2025 request for an opinion from Paxton on whether he could exclude schools from accepting vouchers based on connections to organizations defined as terrorist groups, according to the Tribune.
“Texas Republicans have made anti-Muslim rhetoric a focal point during primary election season. Hancock, appointed by the governor on an interim basis, is running to serve a full term as comptroller,” according to the online news journal.
One of the organizations Hancock targeted was Cognia, an international nonprofit education accreditation and certification provider. Hundreds of schools associated with the company were shut out of the voucher program, including some Christian students and those with disabilities.
CAIR noted U.S. District Judge Alfred Bennett in Houston expressed concern that not a single Islamic school has been approved so far to participate in the Texas school voucher program.
“The lack of approved Islamic schools raises important questions about whether the program is being implemented in a fair, inclusive and nondiscriminatory manner,” CAIR-Texas said in response to the ruling. “All families, regardless of their faith, deserve equal access to educational opportunities supported by public programs. We urge state officials to take immediate steps to ensure that faith-based schools, including Islamic institutions, are given a fair opportunity to participate.”
The rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric and political action in Texas is part of a surge in Islamophobia among Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Members of Congress including U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and U.S. Rep. Randy Fine of Florida have been among those pushing false claims that Islam is not a religion and that all Muslims are terrorists intent on instituting Sharia Law in the U.S.
“This rise in religious bigotry from our elected officials is intentional,” according to Faithful America. “As the Trump regime continues to bang the drums of an illegal war in Iran, his Christofascist followers will use hatred and fear to create cover and buy-in to put more of our troops in harm’s way and destroy a region that is no threat to us.”
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