Texas comptroller questions whether some Islamic schools can be excluded from voucher program
Acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock is asking the Texas Attorney General’s Office whether certain schools can be excluded from Texas’ new school voucher program based on connections to a U.S. Muslim advocacy group or alleged ties to the Chinese government.
In a request for opinion filed to state Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office on Dec. 12, Hancock asked whether schools could be excluded from the program if they were linked to a “foreign terrorist organization” or a “foreign adversary.” Hancock suggested schools that had hosted events for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group which Gov. Greg Abbott recently designated as a terrorist organization, would be affected.
CAIR is suing Abbott over the terrorist designation, claiming it was defamatory and not based in law.
Hancock also alleged that one school in the state was owned or controlled by a group connected to an adviser for the Chinese government, which he wrote “appear to implicate newly enacted laws restricting property ownership, control, and financial influence by foreign adversary entities in Texas.” Senate Bill 17, which went into effect on Sept. 1, bans governments, companies and individuals who legally reside in China, Russia, Iran and North Korea from owning land and properties in the state.
Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/12/22/texas-school-voucher-exclusions-kelly-hancock/