Texas's school voucher program stopped being theoretical on Monday, Aug. 10, when the state's first Education Freedom Account recipients walked into private-school classrooms, two days before Spring ISD and Klein ISD students start the school year Wednesday, Aug. 12.

Among the Houston-area families using TEFA dollars on opening day: Christine and her husband Nuñez, both working parents, who enrolled first-grader Gianna at the Dyslexia School of Houston with $11,000 in voucher funds. The school charges $35,000 a year. The family covers the $24,000 gap out of pocket.

"We are reliant on the TEFA dollars; it opened up the opportunity for her to come here, but it doesn't mean there is no skin in the game," Christine Nuñez told ABC13 on Aug. 10.

Nuñez said Gianna had been struggling with language and speech development. Under Texas law, dyslexia services are classified as an educational need rather than a medical one, meaning families previously paid for therapy out of pocket after school hours. The voucher now covers that instruction during the school day.

A school built around the program

Founder and CEO Tammy Spencer converted her after-school dyslexia tutoring operation into a full-time, five-day-a-week private school specifically to accept TEFA dollars. She opened Monday with eight students. Five of those families are using voucher funds toward tuition.

Spencer described the school as a bridge for students from pre-K through eighth grade, focused on building skills until they can succeed at a public or private school of their choice.

Local numbers

The state comptroller's TEFA demographic report, published Aug. 1, shows 1,617 students in the Spring ISD and Klein ISD attendance zones have funded voucher accounts: 989 in Klein ISD and 628 in Spring ISD. Nearly 25% of participants statewide have a qualifying disability.

Among individual campuses, Klein Oak High School leads locally with 53 voucher students, followed by Klein High School with 48, Klein Cain High School and Klein Road Elementary with 40 each, and Spring High School with 33.

As we reported Aug. 4, the program's participants are disproportionately white compared to both districts' majority-Hispanic student bodies. Eighty percent of participants statewide come from families earning below 200% of the federal poverty level.

Statewide picture

Across Texas, 85,344 students have confirmed participation out of more than 122,000 who were awarded funds. About 20,000 students opted out, according to the Dallas Morning News, and more than 121,000 remain on a waiting list. The standard award is $10,474; students with documented disabilities can receive up to $30,000.

At least one Spring-area private school, Trinity Klein Lutheran Church's La Escuela Trinity Klein, is also approved to accept TEFA funds this year.

What's next

The Texas Comptroller's office will update TEFA demographic data before the 90th Legislative Session begins in January 2027. Critics, including State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, have said the current report omits required data points such as participants' ZIP codes and reasons families opted out. Neither Spring ISD nor Klein ISD has issued a public statement on the program's local impact.