Texas extends school choice application deadline after Muslim schools sue

A federal judge ordered Texas to extend its school choice application deadline Tuesday after several Muslim schools filed suit, giving families until March 31 to apply. The original deadline was March 17.

Four Muslim parents and three Islamic private schools filed suit this month, claiming the program discriminates against Islamic schools, The Texas Tribune reported.

Although more than 2,200 private schools have been approved to accept the Texas Education Freedom Account scholarships, multiple schools, including the Islamic schools that sued, were blocked from participating.

Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock has blocked Muslim schools over concerns about affiliation with foreign terrorist organizations. Hancock also probed another school with rumored links to the Chinese Communist government in December.

Several of the schools operate at addresses that hosted events by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which Gov. Greg Abbott designated as a foreign terrorist organization and transnational criminal organization last year, according to Texas Scorecard. The council has sued, disputing the designation.

State Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion in January that Hancock’s office can determine which schools are eligible for the program. One Islamic school was approved but later dropped, The Center Square reported, and Muslim students in Islamic schools were not allowed to apply.

U.S. District Judge Alfred Bennett ordered the state not to decide which students will receive funds until after the new deadline and to allow the schools that sued to register for the program. Registration does not mean they will be approved, The Texas Tribune noted, but CBS News reported late Wednesday that two Islamic schools have since been approved to participate.

Bennett, an Obama appointee, said the process did not appear to be “fair and equitable,” according to the Houston Chronicle.

The lawsuit’s next hearing is in late April, meaning the plaintiffs may ask for a further delay in scholarship awards once the March 31 deadline passes.

Already, more than 229,000 students have applied for what is expected to be about 100,000 scholarships in the first year of the $1 billion program.

Successful applicants will receive about $10,000 that can be spent on private school tuition, tutoring and other educational expenses. Homeschool students are eligible for $2,000, and special needs students can receive up to $30,000, depending on their individualized education plan.

The state will use a lottery system within four separate tiers to make awards, prioritizing special needs students from families earning less than 500% of the federal poverty level (about $165,000 for a family of four), followed by families at or below 200% of the poverty level (about $66,000 for a family of four), and two tiers of middle- and higher-income families.

Participating parents must have their children enrolled in a private school by July 15, and schools have until the end of that month to confirm enrollment with the state.

Funding notifications were scheduled to be sent to families starting in early April, according to the TEFA website. It was not immediately clear if Bennett’s order would delay that.