Muslim Parents, Schools Excluded From State School Voucher Program Accuse Texas of Discrimination

Texas is facing two federal lawsuits over its private school voucher program, as plaintiffs say the state is discriminating against Islamic schools by excluding them.A group of Islamic schools and Muslim parents has filed a federal lawsuit against the Texas comptroller’s office, alleging that the state is engaging in religious discrimination by blocking Islamic schools from participating in its $1 billion private school voucher program. Last year, Governor Abbott signed the voucher program into law, promising that it would help Texas parents pay for private education or homeschool their children. The program provides at least $2,000 for homeschool parents and roughly $10,400 for private school tuition.However, Muslim parents and schools say they have been excluded from the program. The lawsuit filed on Wednesday argues, “There is no secular, non-discriminatory criterion that would explain the blanket exclusion of every eligible Islamic school generally, or the School Plaintiffs particularly, while schools of other religious affiliations have been approved through the same process, under the same statutory criteria.”The plaintiffs say that the exclusion is “pressuring families to choose between accessing a generally available public benefit and pursuing Islamic education for their children.”Last year, the acting Texas comptroller, Kelly Hancock, asked the state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, for a legal opinion on whether the comptroller’s office has the authority to determine whether schools are ineligible for the program. Mr. Paxton says the comptroller has the ability to block schools from participating if they are “illegally tied to terrorists or foreign adversaries.” The Texas Tribune reports that no Islamic schools have been accepted into the program. The plaintiffs allege that the comptroller’s office has blocked some Islamic schools based on their association with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR, which Mr. Abbott has designated as a terrorist organization. CAIR is challenging that designation in court. Earlier this month, a federal judge blocked a similar designation issued by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, but a judge has not weighed in on Mr. Abbott’s declaration. Mr. Hancock told the Houston Chronicle that he is investigating the funding sources of Islamic schools that apply for eligibility for the voucher program. “Depending on what we find out, we do have to ask for more information,” Mr. Hancock said. “There are statutes that limit us from entering into contracts with foreign adversaries, for those connected to terrorist organizations. So this is a contract, and when they come in and sign up, they’re signing a contract to do business with the state. That’s why we have to make sure we look at all legislation and all statutes and comply with those.”Earlier this month, a Muslim father filed a federal lawsuit over the exclusion of Islamic schools from the voucher program. That lawsuit says that Islamic schools have been blocked despite having “no actual connection to terrorism or unlawful activity,” and meeting the program’s voucher eligibility requirements. The legal challenges come ahead of a March 17 deadline for parents to apply for the state-funded vouchers. The plaintiffs are asking the court to prevent the comptroller from enforcing the deadline and to require the state to accept all Islamic schools that meet the eligibility requirements. The Texas comptroller’s office did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication.

Muslim Parents, Schools Excluded From State School Voucher Program Accuse Texas of Discrimination

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