From the Texas Tribune: Texas accepts some Islamic schools into voucher program after lawsuits

An example of national / state conflict, among other things.

- Click here. 

The Texas comptroller has accepted several Islamic private schools into the state’s voucher program after the institutions sued to gain admittance.

Four Muslim parents and three Islamic private school providers that operate four campuses had sued Texas leaders for excluding the schools while accepting hundreds of other non-Islamic schools.

The two federal lawsuits asked the court to block the private school voucher program from discriminating on the basis of religion. As part of the dispute, U.S. District Judge Alfred Bennett has extended the voucher application deadline to March 31 and ordered the state to consider the schools’ request to join the voucher program. The next hearing is set for April 24.

The first lawsuit, filed March 1 by a parent acting on behalf of two children who attend a Houston private school, names Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock and Education Commissioner Mike Morath as defendants. A second suit filed March 11 by three parents and three schools names Hancock and Mary Katherine Stout, the voucher program director, as defendants. The two cases are now consolidated into one.

Dear ChatGPT: What role does the Texas Comptroller play regarding the private school voucher program? 

Why not the TEA?