Judge rules Texas must extend application deadline for school choice program

(The Center Square) – A judge has ruled in favor of Muslim plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against the Texas Comptroller’s Office over Texas’ new school choice program.

The deadline to apply to the program was Tuesday but the judge extended it to March 31.

The new program provides roughly $1 billion in Education Savings Accounts grants to roughly 100,000 students. More than 200,000 students had applied as of yesterday and more than 2,200 schools have been approved to participate, the comptroller’s office said.

“Additional schools, vendors and education services continue to register on a rolling basis. Families will have until July 15 to confirm their school selections,” the comptroller’s office, which is administering the program, said.

Proponents of the program argue it was designed to support students from lower income families seeking to leave public schools for alternate education options. The majority of applicants, 80%, are existing private school st...