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Over the weekend, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion on the eligibility of some Texas private schools to be enrolled in the state’s new school voucher program. Not one to let a bit of snow deter him from issuing another press release from his office, the Saturday statement made clear that certain private schools should not be included in the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program.
“Let me be crystal clear: Texans’ tax dollars should never fund Islamic terrorists or America’s enemies,” Paxton said in the statement. “The Comptroller’s Office has always possessed exclusive authority under the TEFA framework to stop any school illegally tied to terrorists or foreign adversaries from accessing taxpayer dollars, and this opinion affirms that authority. There is no question that the Comptroller’s Office is statutorily charged with ensuring that our school choice program is protected from abuse by terrorists or the Chinese Communist Party.”
In December, acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock requested legal clarification from Paxton’s office on the reach of his power to keep “taxpayer dollars” from being used to “support institutions with ties to a foreign terrorist organization, a transnational criminal network, or any adversarial foreign government.”
The “terrorists” being referred to in this case are the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an organization that says its mission is to “enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.” State officials have been given free rein to use such terminology in an official capacity thanks to Gov. Greg Abbott’s November announcement, designating CAIR and another group, the Muslim Brotherhood, as terrorist organizations. The federal government, on the other hand, has not designated CAIR as a terrorist organization. CAIR has denied any connection to the Muslim Brotherhood or any terrorist group.
Hancock and Paxton haven’t simply singled out muslim private schools, but any private schools, regardless of religious affiliation, that are merely “based at an address that has hosted publicly advertised events by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).” Paxton’s issuance isn’t legally binding in the way legislation signed by the governor is, but the opinion will be used by state agencies as a guideline moving forward.
Although the number of schools affected by the decision is unclear, it likely means that hundreds of private schools will now be unavailable for parents to use school voucher funds to enroll their children in.
CAIR representatives did not return our requests for comment, but Edward Ahmed Mitchell, national deputy director of CAIR, told the Texas Tribune that “Ken Paxton might have a future as an NFL punter. Instead of answering the simple question that Comptroller Hancock posed, the attorney general has responded with a confusing, evasive letter that kicks the issue back to Mr. Hancock to decide.”
Parents can begin applying for Texas Education Freedom Accounts on February 4. The $1 billion program allows families $10,474 per student, possibly more for students with special education needs, to pay for private school tuition, supplies, uniforms and more.
Regardless of Paxton’s guidance, the CAIR deputy director questions the legality of how state leaders are moving forward.
“Nothing in the law permits Mr. Hancock to scrutinize private Muslim schools because of their religious identity,” Mitchell added in the Texas Tribune report, “nor can he punish them if they once hosted an educational lecture from a civil rights organization that Greg Abbott happens to dislike.”
