Public school districts across the Houston area are seeing a surge in requests for special education evaluations as families seek documentation needed to qualify for additional funds through Texas’ new school voucher program.
Families are rushing to get their kids tested for special education to qualify for more money under Texas' new school voucher program. This is causing a flood of requests to public school districts in the Houston region.
The increase in requests is because of the state's $1 billion voucher program, which will start in the 2026–27 school year and give families around $10,500 a year for private school tuition and other education costs. Students with disabilities might get up to $30,000, depending on what they require, but their families must get an Individualized Education Program (IEP) from a public school district to be eligible for the extra money.
Because of this, public schools are getting many requests from families who want evaluations, even from families whose kids go to private or homeschool programs.
According to Kera News, Gwen Coffey, who works in special education for a large school district in the suburbs of Houston, claimed that more private school families are asking for IEP evaluations.
Coffey stated, "One thing we would ask parents during the process is, 'When did you first suspect a disability?'" "And parents will reply, 'We do not think our child has a disability.' We just know that we will make more money.
More than 176,000 households in Texas have applied for the Texas Education Freedom Accounts, which is the official name of the voucher program. About 13.5% of applicants said they were students with disabilities.
Families have less than a month to apply because the application period launched on February 4 and ends on March 17. But the legislation says that school systems have up to 45 school days to finish an evaluation for special education and prepare an IEP. Many teachers believe the present is a hard deadline to meet.
Coffey expressed, "The timeframe was insufficient."
The haste has further strained the already overburdened special education departments. Some districts are already paying school psychologists and diagnosticians extra to work on Saturdays to keep up with the growing number of evaluations, according to workers in Houston-area districts.
Families that want voucher money can send in other proof that their child has a disability, such as a doctor's certification. But those other options do not make families eligible for more voucher money than the $10,500 initial amount.
More than 5,000 families have selected those other options instead of getting a full IEP evaluation.
Teachers and supporters say the rise in evaluations shows that the new voucher program is causing problems for the public school systems that must conduct many of them.
Andrea Chevalier, who is in charge of government relations for the Texas Council of Administrators of Special Education, noted that IEP assessments take a lot of time and effort from many different specialists.
Chevalier stated, "It is called a full evaluation because you should look at all areas of disability." "Just saying, 'Well, my doctor said it is just speech' is not enough."
Advocates say that the extra demand might put a strain on districts that are already short on staff and money, especially as the state rolls out the new voucher system.
.jpg)
.jpg)
