KATY, Texas – A Katy mother says her three-year-old son with special needs does not qualify for Texas’ new school voucher program, even though students with disabilities are supposed to receive priority.
Amanda Brundidge said she was surprised to learn her son was ineligible for the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program after completing the application.
“I clicked through the application, and at the end of it I was told that he was not eligible for the program,” Brundidge said.
Her son is enrolled in an early childhood special education (ECSE) program through his public school and has an Individualized Education Program (IEP).
Brundidge said she had hoped to use voucher funding to send her son to a private school that could better support his needs.
“There’s a private school that I had in mind for my son that was going to meet his needs for academic and social development,” she said. “I was already looking into speech therapy that would also help him.”
Brundidge said she later learned her son does not meet the program’s eligibility requirements.
Simply having a disability is not enough for some pre-K students to qualify.
Brundidge believes that creates what she calls a policy gap.
According to the Texas Education Freedom Accounts website, eligible Pre-K students must also fall into one of these categories:
- unable to speak and comprehend the English language
- eligible to participate in the national free or reduced-price lunch program
- homeless
- is the child of an active-duty member of the armed forces of the United States
- is the child of a member of the armed forces of the United States
- is, or ever has been, in:
- the conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services
- foster care in another state or territory
- is the child of a person who has received the Star of Texas Award as:
- a peace officer
- a firefighter
- an emergency medical first responder
- is the child of a person employed as a classroom teacher at a public primary or secondary school in the school district that offers a pre-k or kindergarten class
“In the legislation it says children with disabilities are prioritized,” Brundidge said. “Children with disabilities are three to 21 years old and they have IEPs. I don’t understand why these students would be left out.”
In 2025, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 2, allocating $1 billion to create the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program.
The application period is open through March 17.
More than 140,000 students have applied for the program so far, according to state data.
Students with disabilities are listed as one of the highest priority groups if applications exceed available funding.
But Brundidge said the current eligibility rules mean some of the youngest students with disabilities are unable to apply.
Brundidge said the program could have helped her son access additional services at a critical age.
“He needs additional speech services,” she said. “Right now he’s only planned to get 30 minutes a week, but I know he would benefit from more.”
She said the flexibility offered by the program could have helped prepare him for kindergarten.
“That would be my plan,” Brundidge said about sending him to private school next year. “But now that I’m finding out that I am ineligible, I don’t know what my plan is.”
She said she hopes officials clarify whether the law was intended to exclude some students in early childhood special education programs.
“I feel like this was an unintentional mistake,” she said. “These are some of our most vulnerable students.”
Brundidge believes other families may be facing the same issue.
“I know I’m not the only one,” she said. “I’ve talked to other families about the frustration with the program.”