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Recent Lawsuits Highlight Injustice and Inequity in Texas’ Voucher Program

• By Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D. • IDRA Newsletter • March 2026 •

Recent lawsuits challenge Texas’ voucher program for enabling discrimination, raising concerns about civil rights protections and equal access to education.

IDRA and our partners have long opposed discriminatory school privatization efforts like state-funded private school vouchers. During the last Texas legislative session and in the decades leading up to it, advocates warned such a program would have a discriminatory impact at best, fueled by discriminatory intent at worst (Duggins-Clay, 2025).

Two recently filed lawsuits illustrate this now-reality and should serve as a clear warning to families and policymakers in Texas and across the nation to reject and repeal privatization programs like vouchers and tax credits.

Public Education is a Fundamental Right for All Children

Public schools were created specifically so that all children could be educated regardless of their families’ economic status. Emphasizing this point, every state in the United States has adopted an “education clause” in its state constitution that guarantees the right of every child to attend a quality public school (Hunter, 2011).

This fundamental right applies to every child, regardless of their income, race, ethnic origin, foster or homeless status, gender, military family status, primary language, religion, immigration status or disability status.

Put simply, public schools are the backbone of our democracy and our economy. The public tax dollars that sustain them should never be diverted to special interests or private organizations that have the power to discriminate in their policies and practices.

Private Schools Have the Power to Discriminate

Voucher systems that allow individual families and private schools to access public funding for private education perpetuate discrimination by creating even more unequal and less accountable education systems.

Diverse stakeholders across the political and ideological spectrum have repeatedly presented evidence demonstrating that a publicly funded voucher program in Texas will facilitate discrimination against and segregation of our state’s most vulnerable students, including students historically marginalized on the basis of race, students with disabilities, students from religious minorities, LGBTQ+ students, emergent bilingual students, rural students, and students from low-income families (Duggins-Clay, 2023).

When the state funds vouchers, it underwrites discrimination.

Because most private schools do not choose to fully comply with our nation’s civil rights laws, students and families frequently face discrimination when they try to enroll in a private school or after they are admitted (PFPS, 2023). Even when the discriminatory exclusion is not explicit, relying on the predictable result of admissions policies and practices that prioritize students who identify with a particular religion, neighborhood, physical or mental ability, or income level to achieve a homogeneous school community is discrimination.

The discriminatory impact of the Texas program is by design.

When the state funds vouchers, it underwrites discrimination.

Muslim Students and Islamic Schools Initially Excluded from the Voucher Program

Adding to the layer of practices that facilitate state-sponsored discrimination through private school vouchers, Texas leaders doubled down by excluding school and families from participation on the basis of their religion, ethnicity and national origin.

It was bad enough that Texas legislators gave private schools a blank check to discriminate with Texans’ hard-earned taxpayer dollars. Then, it seems the state categorically excluded entire communities on the basis of who they are.

To date, two federal lawsuits have asked the court to block the voucher program from discriminating on the basis of religion (Edison, 2026a). The first case was filed on March 1 by a Houston-area family who attend an Islamic private school. The second case was filed on March 11 by three parents and three private schools in Dallas, Collin and Galveston counties.

The plaintiffs in these lawsuits allege that the state voucher program has not accepted a single Islamic-affiliated entity as eligible to receive voucher funds on behalf of a qualifying family. If proven true, that fact would be compelling evidence of discrimination.

A federal judge ordered the state to extend the application deadline for private school vouchers and to allow the schools in the lawsuit to register for the program. The state then accepted only those Islamic schools into the program. (Edison, 2026b)

Texas Must Uphold Students’ Constitutional Right to Public Education

If state officials supporting voucher have their way, Muslim students will be the first but not the last targets of discrimination in education.

The voucher law not only lacks civil rights protections for program participants; it also explicitly allows private education providers paid through the voucher to discriminate against students, family members and employees on a variety of grounds. These include allowing discrimination on the basis of religion, gender, disability status, national origin and emergent bilingual status.

Further, the voucher law explicitly requires students to forfeit many of their civil rights, such as access to disability and English learner resources upon admission into the program (Latham Sikes, 2025).

The Texas Bill of Rights unequivocally states, “Equality under the law shall not be denied or abridged because of sex, race, color, creed or national origin” (Tex. Const. Art. 1, Sec. 3a). Federal law and the U.S. Constitution guarantee similar protections.

The voucher program’s authorization and even incentivization of private discrimination through public funds clearly violates this sacred principle.

We hope and expect that the courts will reaffirm that the state and our taxpayer-funded institutions cannot discriminate against individuals and communities on the basis of their race, ethnicity and religion. The recently filed lawsuits are a warning to Texans and a call to action to ensure no child, family or community is excluded or treated unfairly because of who they are.

Resources

Duggins-Clay, P. (March 11, 2025). Voucher Systems are Unfair and Unconstitutional – IDRA Invited Testimony against HB 3, submitted to the Texas House Committee on Public Education.

Duggins-Clay, P. (February 7, 2023). School Segregation through Vouchers – What Policymakers Can Learn from a History of State Efforts to Use Vouchers to Avoid Integration. IDRA Knowledge is Power.

Edison, J. (March 2, 2026). Texas accepts some Islamic schools into voucher program after lawsuits. Texas Tribune. 

Edison, J. (March 17, 2026). Judge orders Texas to extend school voucher deadline in response to lawsuit from Islamic schools. Texas Tribune.

Hunter, M.A. (January 2011). State Constitution Education Clause Language. Education Law Center.

Latham Sikes, C. (March 11, 2025). Students Should Receive Language Protections and Programs in Any State-Funded Education System – IDRA Testimony Against HB 3, Submitted to the Texas House Committee on Public Education.

Mehdi Cherkaoui v. Ken Paxton, Kelly Hancock, and Mike Morath. Complaint for Declaratory Relief, Temporary Restraining Order, Preliminary and Permanent Injunction, and Damages Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. March 1, 2026.

PFPS. (May 2023). Keep Public Funds in Texas Public Schools – Reject Harmful Private School Voucher Programs Invest In Public Education. Public Funds Public Schools.

Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D., is IDRA’s chief legal analyst (paige.duggins-clay@idra.org).

FAQs

What are the lawsuits against the Texas voucher program about?

Recent lawsuits allege that Texas’ voucher program discriminates against certain students and schools, including claims of religious exclusion.

How can voucher programs enable discrimination?

Voucher programs can allow private schools receiving public funds to set admissions and enrollment policies that exclude students based on religion, disability, language or other characteristics.

Are private schools required to follow civil rights laws?

Many private schools are not required to fully comply with the same civil rights protections that apply to public schools, even when they receive public funds through vouchers.

What rights do students give up when using vouchers?

In some cases, students may lose access to protections and services, including supports for disabilities or emergent bilingual students, when they enroll in voucher-funded private schools.

Why is public education considered a constitutional right?

Every state constitution includes provisions guaranteeing access to public education for all children, regardless of background or circumstances.

What are the broader concerns about voucher programs?

Advocates argue that voucher programs can increase segregation, reduce accountability and divert public funds from schools that serve most students.

[© 2026, IDRA. This article originally appeared in the March edition of the IDRA Newsletter. Permission to reproduce this article is granted provided the article is reprinted in its entirety and proper credit is given to IDRA and the author.]