Texas’s first year of universal school choice has raised a practical question for families: Does a voucher award translate into a school placement that meets a child’s needs? The McDaniels family’s experience in San Antonio illustrates the divide. Four of Nichole and Trevor McDaniel’s six school-aged children enrolled at Cornerstone Christian Schools this fall, but their son Gavin, who has autism and ADHD, was rejected by Cornerstone and another private school before enrolling in an online academy.
The San Antonio Express-News reported that Cornerstone said it could not support Gavin’s needs. He now attends online Pathway Christian Preparatory Academy; his mother plans to bring him to Cornerstone for an in-person interview next year.
The state’s new Texas Education Freedom Accounts program launched this year under Senate Bill 2, which Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law in May 2025 with a $1 billion maximum for program spending during the first two-year budget cycle, according to The Texas Tribune. Private schools accepting vouchers are not required to provide special education services under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and religiously affiliated private schools are exempt from the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to Disability Rights Texas. That leaves families navigating a private-school system with different obligations from public schools.
Thousands Forfeited Special Education Awards
State records obtained by The Dallas Morning News showed that nearly 7,400 of the 29,400 students with disabilities approved for TEFA vouchers—about 25%—returned or forfeited their awards because private schools rejected them or could not accommodate their needs. Students with disabilities made up one quarter of voucher awardees and were the first group to receive awards. The Comptroller began releasing award notifications April 22.
What families can challenge
Texas Education Agency guidance says the district where a private school is located determines whether a parentally placed student with a disability will receive IDEA equitable services. The guidance distinguishes that process from the public-school obligation to provide a free appropriate public education. The first-round timeline also gave families a set deadline to act: the Texas Comptroller said award recipients had until July 15 to confirm enrollment at a participating private school, select homeschool/other or opt out.
Even a Winning Outcome Carries a Price Tag
For the two McDaniel children who were accepted, Cornerstone's price tag ran well above what the voucher covered. Cornerstone charges slightly more than $20,000 per student annually and also receives $11,000 per student from its affiliated church, according to the Express-News, which cited school administrator Andrea Freeman. With a 25% sibling discount and a $250 discount for children of military members, tuition for two of the McDaniel children, Mavis and Olive, totaled $21,655 — vouchers covered $20,948 of that, leaving the family owing $707. On top of that came a $125 application fee per child, roughly $600 in uniforms, $35 for art supplies, and about $15 a day in à la carte lunch costs for the children, per the newspaper's reporting.
Nichole and Trevor McDaniel joined the church affiliated with Cornerstone in 2022 and said they considered the voucher program a huge blessing, believing the Bible was absent from public schools and fearing that public classrooms exposed their children to discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation, according to the Express-News. The couple said they would take on longer work hours or new jobs to afford Cornerstone for their other children, and Nichole said the voucher funding helped her see that her children have different strengths and educational needs. Their daughter Mavis previously attended Carson Elementary School before switching to Cornerstone.
About 150 families agreed to pay more than vouchers covered for children attending Cornerstone this fall, the paper reported, underscoring that even a successful voucher placement routinely requires substantial out-of-pocket spending. Cornerstone's listed tuition for the current school year already exceeds $24,000, as school officials confirmed to the Texas Comptroller during a February visit reported by WOAI.
Schools That Simply Say No to Certain Diagnoses
Nichole McDaniel also paid $150 to apply to The Winston School of San Antonio, which specializes in students with learning differences like dyslexia and ADHD, but the school does not serve students with moderate to severe autism, nonverbal disabilities, intellectual disabilities, and emotional and behavioral disorders.
Students with disabilities can receive up to $30,000 in voucher funding, while remaining recipients come from families earning up to $165,000 annually for a family of four. More than 100,000 Texas students had received vouchers as of August, including 8,400 in Bexar County.
A Younger Son's Daycare Funding Falls Through
The McDaniels' struggles were not limited to Gavin. Their four-year-old son Isaiah attended Wiggles Early Learning Academy for eight days before the center was rebranded as Smart Ducklings Daycare under new ownership — and the new daycare was not approved to accept vouchers. The change disrupted his eligibility, and the family paid hundreds of dollars in out-of-pocket pre-kindergarten costs.
Private-school awards are $10,474, while homeschool awards are $2,000.
Demand Keeps Outpacing the Budget
The scramble for slots reflects overwhelming demand. When application portals opened in February, the Comptroller's office received more than 46,000 applications in the first 24 hours, ultimately drawing over 274,000 submissions statewide, according to WOAI. The marketplace allows parents to use funds for approved resources beyond tuition, including speech therapy, jiu-jitsu, art classes and instruments, per the Express-News.
State Senator Don Huffines asked the legislature last month to increase voucher funding to cover the entire waitlist, on top of the program's existing $1 billion price tag. That pressure for more money comes as public school districts statewide report losses topping $290 million, including an estimated $4.7 million hit to San Antonio's North East ISD, as Hoodline has reported.
For the McDaniels, the arithmetic of vouchers, tuition and rejections has meant celebrating wins for four of their children while still fighting for a fifth. Their experience echoes that of another San Antonio mother who, as Hoodline reported, turned down a voucher after no private school would take her deaf son.
