Education Texas, Florida face pushback over efforts to exclude Islamic schools from school voucher programs by Lexi Lonas Cochran - 03/15/26 6:00 AM ET by Lexi Lonas Cochran - 03/15/26 6:00 AM ET Share ✕ LinkedIn LinkedIn Email Email NOW PLAYING Texas and Florida are facing criticism and potential legal challenges over moves to exclude Islamic schools from their school voucher programs.   Both states have tried to designate the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest U.S. Muslim advocacy group, as a foreign terrorist organization, despite it lacking a criminal conviction or any similar federal categorization.   And now, GOP efforts to expand school choice options are running directly into what critics say is a rising wave of Islamophobia.   In Texas, around two dozen Islamic schools have been left out of the school choice program over potential connections to CAIR.  And Florida is looking to pass legislation that, if signed into law, would stop schools with ties to CAIR from participating in its program.   The schools targeted by Texas Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock allegedly were accredited by Cognia and hosted events organized by CAIR, which Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has declared a terrorist group.   Those in favor of the move say it is not about religion  “What is going on is this has nothing to do with religion or freedom of religion. This has everything to do with ensuring that in no way is Texas providing financial support to entities tied to or a part of terrorist organizations or hostile foreign nations like the Communist Party of China,” said Mandy Drogin, senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.   The position has led to two federal lawsuits filed against Texas by Muslim parents and private schools who argue the state has “systematically targeted Islamic schools for exclusion.”  And whether all these schools even have ties to CAIR is a matter of debate.   “The schools that I know that haven’t been invited — the accredited private schools that happen to be Islamic — are really good schools that have great curriculum … they have a strong community culture. The families really are well served by the schools, and I do not think they’re doing anything that is accused in these opinions,” said Laura Colangelo, executive director of the Texas Private Schools Association.   “I am certain that there are schools that have absolutely no connection to CAIR that could prove that, and I would like for them to be able to have that opportunity,” she added.   The Texas comptroller’s office has begun reviews of some schools with Cognia accreditation that it believes is in compliance with Texas law, but it is unclear what evidence these schools need to prove that, the Associated Press  reported .  The Hill has reached out to the comptroller’s office for comment.   In Florida, a judge struck down Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) designation of CAIR as a terrorist group, but a bill working its way through the state legislature could still lead to schools associated with the group to be excluded from the state’s school voucher program.   The exclusion of Muslim schools from the programs comes amid concerns over a rise in Islamophobia in the U.S. GOP Texas lawmakers in Congress have formed a Sharia-Free America Caucus, and politicians in the state have been campaigning on their anti-Muslim positions. “We should ban the burqa, the hijab, the abaya, the niqab,” Larry Brock, a Republican candidate for Texas’s state legislature, said at event last month, according to The New York Times . “No to halal meat. No to celebrating Ramadan. No, no, no.”  Florida Rep. Randy Fine (R) drew calls for a censure from Democrats last month after posting online that he would choose dogs over Muslims if forced to pick, and this week, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) was sharply condemned over a post connecting New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s (D) Ramadan iftar at City Hall with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. CAIR rejects the accusations lobbied against it. “What we are seeing is not even religious discrimination, what we are seeing is religious persecution. Those families, they choose private Islamic schools, they pay taxes like everyone else, but they were not evaluated based on objective criteria under the law,” said Shaimaa Zayan, operations manager for CAIR-Austin.  “This religious persecution is based on narrative, not reality. We have officials and politicians in Texas who have been creating panic about M