Texas comptroller‑elect Sarah Eckhardt, a Democrat, said she will ensure Islamic and other religious schools are not blocked from receiving money through the state’s $1 billion Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) program, according to the Houston Chronicle. “I am not a fan of this policy. However, it is a policy that has passed the Texas Legislature, and it is the law. So as the comptroller, I will implement it, because it is the law,” she said at her Nov. 4 news conference, per the Chronicle. She also said she would review the program’s spending and the data collected by the vendor that runs it, the outlet reported.
Court order reopened the door
In March, U.S. District Judge Alfred Bennett ordered the comptroller’s office to accept applications from Islamic schools, The Gateway Pundit reported. Four were admitted within days, including Brighter Horizons Academy in Garland, according to the article. An attorney for the schools said the state’s attorney conceded in court that the comptroller had no evidence tying Brighter Horizons to the Council on American‑Islamic Relations (CAIR) or any other organization that would bar it from the program, per the report.
How the exclusion fight began
The article states the comptroller’s office began excluding Islamic schools in December 2025 after then‑acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock asked Attorney General Ken Paxton whether schools accredited by Cognia could be disqualified because they had hosted events organized by CAIR. In January, Paxton issued an opinion that the comptroller could exclude schools that violate laws banning material support for designated foreign terrorist organizations. “Let me be crystal clear: Texans’ tax dollars should never fund Islamic terrorists or America’s enemies,” Paxton said, according to the report.
FDD: Foreign bank money reached a participating school
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) reported that Brighter Horizons Academy received $995,000 from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). FDD’s Oct. 21 report says IsDB is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, affiliated with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and that Iran is the bank’s third‑largest shareholder; Qatar and Turkey are also among its top 10 shareholders. The U.S. government designates Iran a state sponsor of terrorism.
FDD also reported that IsDB has given more than $17 million to at least 50 private Islamic schools in the United States and described the Council of Islamic Schools in North America (CISNA) as “a standards‑setting body supported by IsDB.” Brighter Horizons lists CISNA among its accreditors, the report states. In 2023, IsDB launched a project “Enhancing the quality of education in Islamic schools in the USA through the Council of Islamic Schools in North America (CISNA),” according to FDD.
What the school says
On its website, Brighter Horizons describes itself as “a model Islamic educational institute” whose mission is to develop “practicing Muslim Leaders,” according to the article.
Past legal cases cited by outlets
Texas Scorecard reported that Rasmi Almallah, listed among Brighter Horizons’ founders, served on the board of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF). A federal jury in Dallas convicted HLF and five leaders in 2008 of providing material support to Hamas; the Department of Justice said the defendants provided about $12.4 million to the group. The Middle East Forum reported that Majida Salem, the wife of convicted HLF chairman Ghassan Elashi, worked as an Islamic studies teacher at Brighter Horizons. These outlet reports do not allege wrongdoing by Brighter Horizons in the TEFA case.
Election shifts and the program’s future
Democrats also won the governor’s office. Gina Hinojosa defeated Gov. Greg Abbott, according to the Associated Press, and Abbott conceded. Hinojosa has said she will try to eliminate the voucher program, which would require action by the Legislature, the article states. In 2023, Hinojosa voted against Senate Bill 1900, the law that allowed Abbott to designate foreign terrorist organizations under Texas law, per the report. On Oct. 21, Abbott’s campaign said CAIR Action, CAIR’s political affiliate, chose Hinojosa as its preferred candidate for governor, according to the article.
Eckhardt has asked Abbott to appoint her as comptroller before her January swearing‑in, the article states. Earlier this year, she argued in a statement that the comptroller “has been instructed by the GOP to illegally discriminate based on religion” by keeping Islamic schools out of TEFA, per the article.
