Overview
- U.S. District Judge Alfred Bennett issued a temporary restraining order extending the TEFA family application window to March 31 and consolidated two related lawsuits challenging the exclusion of Islamic schools.
- The order requires the comptroller to send registration links within 24 hours to Excellence Academy and Katy Houston Qur'an Academy and to update the TEFA website, with a hearing on preliminary or permanent relief set for April 24.
- State officials report more than 200,000 student applications—well above first-year funding capacity—and say selections will follow statutory priority tiers rather than first-come, first-served processing.
- More than 2,000 private institutions have been admitted to participate, but none are Islamic schools to date after the comptroller paused invitations pending vetting tied to CAIR and an attorney general opinion.
- Rollout issues persist: about half of roughly 24,000 pre-K applicants are ineligible under narrower criteria, and the comptroller added a form allowing a physician or other qualified professional to document disability status for higher funding.