Source reporting: Texas Scorecard
Texas Comptroller Don Huffines is asking the Legislature to provide more than $2 billion for Texas Education Freedom Accounts in the next two-year state budget, more than doubling the program’s original $1 billion appropriation.
Texas Scorecard reported that the comptroller’s budget request cites demand exceeding the funding available for the newly launched education savings account program. The request is a proposal to lawmakers; it does not itself authorize additional spending.
The Legislature created the program through Senate Bill 2 in 2025. The accounts use state funds for approved education expenses, including private-school tuition, tutoring, and online learning. The comptroller’s office administers the program and determines payments under the statutory eligibility and participation rules.
According to figures cited by Texas Scorecard, the program has funded nearly 110,000 students while another 106,000 remain on waiting lists. The office also reported that more than 60,000 participating students attend private schools and receive $10,474 each. About 7,300 participating students with documented disabilities receive that amount plus an average exceeding $5,000 in special-education funding.
The article said the comptroller has allocated $270 million so far, including $127 million for private-school tuition and $36 million for educational products. Tens of thousands of additional students have expressed interest in participating during the 2027-28 school year, according to the budget request.
Those enrollment, allocation, and waiting-list totals were presented by the comptroller’s office and reported by Texas Scorecard. They will require reconciliation in public budget documents because lawmakers must determine whether the counts represent approved participants, current payments, future obligations, or expressions of interest.
Gov. Greg Abbott has also called for increased funding based on demand, but the size and structure of any appropriation will be decided through the legislative budget process. Lawmakers may examine participation limits, per-student awards, administrative costs, special-education payments, and the program’s effect on other education spending.
The request has direct taxpayer and education-policy significance. Increasing the appropriation above $2 billion would make the accounts a substantially larger commitment in the state budget and could expand access for families currently waiting.
Transparent reporting will be necessary to evaluate that investment. Legislators and the public need clear data on applications, eligibility decisions, actual expenditures, unused balances, participating providers, and student outcomes before deciding how rapidly the program should grow. Those measures would allow the funding debate to focus on verified demand and fiscal performance rather than advocacy claims from either supporters or opponents.