The deadline for Texas families to apply for Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA), also known as school vouchers, is on March 17.

TEFA is the $1 billion program that provides families with taxpayer money to help pay for private school. A longtime priority of Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas Republicans were able to pass it through the Legislature in a special session in 2025 after years of opposition from a coalition of Democrats and some Republicans worried about it negatively impacting public schools.

In the period from when applications opened on Feb. 4 through March 8, more than 160,000 Texas families have applied for the vouchers. Acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock expects the program to reach capacity in its first year.  

Texas school voucher application data by income

According to data from the Comptroller’s Office, 79% of the applicants for TEFA are already in private school. Lawmakers who advocated for the program said it was designed to give public school and homeschooled students an opportunity to switch to a private education.

After applications close, the Comptroller’s Office will allocate funding to eligible families through a lottery that prioritizes students with disabilities first. Eleven percent of all applicants, about 18,000, are students with disabilities from families at or below 500% of the Federal Poverty Level.

Next on the priority list is students from low- and middle-income families. Just 35% of applicants are from households that earn 200% or less of the Federal Poverty Level:

• 200% or less of the Federal Poverty Level ($66,000 or less for a family of 4): 35%
• Between 200% and 500% of the Federal Poverty Level ($66,001-$164,999 for a family of 4): 36%
• 500% or more of the Federal Poverty Level: ($165,000 or more for a family of 4): 29%

The Comptroller’s Office will report the waitlist to the Texas Legislature to determine funding for future years.

Texas school voucher application data by grade

The highest share of applications are for students who will be entering pre-K in the fall. Nearly 21,000 applications, about 12.8%, are in that cohort. The number of applicants per grade level declines as the students get older:

• Pre-K: 20,975
• Kindergarten: 15,777
• First grade: 13,654
• Second grade: 13,035
• Third grade: 12,922
• Fourth grade: 12,449
• Fifth grade: 12,273
• Sixth grade: 12,262
• Seventh grade: 10,953
• Eighth grade: 9,600
• Ninth grade: 9,464
• Tenth grade: 7.921
• Eleventh grade: 6,731
• Twelfth grade: 5,347

Texas school voucher applications by school district

The Comptroller’s Office also released a list that broke down the number of applications submitted in each school district across the state.

How much money public school districts will miss out on will depend on how many enrolled or prospective students they lose to private school because of TEFA, since state funds follow the student. But since 79% of applicants are already in private school, the extent of the impact on public school funding may be limited. 

Here are the North Texas school districts with the most TEFA applications from within their boundaries:

• Dallas ISD: 5,267
• Fort Worth ISD: 3,151
• Plano ISD: 2,875
• Richardson ISD: 1,803
• Frisco ISD: 1,793
• Arlington ISD: 1,746
• Northwest ISD: 1,661
• Garland ISD: 1,622
• Lewisville ISD: 1,614
• Keller ISD: 1,541

ARLINGTON, Texas – Arlington police are continuing to investigate a fatal crash that killed a 43-year-old woman on Friday afternoon, saying speed was a factor and that investigators are working to determine whether street racing was involved.

Surveillance video shows speeding before crash

What we know:

Tanya Cypert was less than a mile from her Arlington home when the collision occurred at the intersection of Cooper Street and Eden Road, authorities said. Cypert had been on her way to get something to eat before her shift at Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine.

Police said surveillance video from a nearby business shows two vehicles speeding northbound on Cooper Street moments before the crash. 

The footage shows a black sedan moving in and out of frame, followed by a second black sedan, identified by police as a 2025 Mercedes, weaving between other vehicles.

Another camera angle shows Cypert’s white Hyundai Tucson slowing to make a left turn onto Eden Road as the first black sedan passes through the intersection. Seconds later, the Mercedes enters the intersection and collides with Cypert’s vehicle. 

The impact produced a cloud of smoke and caused an engine to detach and land on the road.

Arlington police investigate potential street racing

Dig deeper:

The 18-year-old driver of the Mercedes was injured and remains hospitalized with broken bones, police said. Investigators have not yet interviewed him.

Cypert was transported to a hospital, where she later died. Her French bulldog, which was in the vehicle with her, was also killed.

Victim’s family on the tragedy

What they’re saying:

Cypert’s sons, Chancellor and Ethan, said they returned to the crash site Monday to honor their mother’s memory.

“It was a regular day for her, and now it’s going to be memorialized as the worst day of our lives,” said Chancellor Cypert.

Chancellor said the family is seeking justice but not revenge.

“As much as we want justice and stuff, it’s not about seeking revenge. It’s about trying to honor her memory and how many people she loved,” he said. “She loved everybody.”

Ethan said the damage to the front of the vehicle was “crazy and mind-blowing,” adding, “There is no need for that amount of speed at all.”

A family friend, Karen Arce, described Cypert as selfless and supportive.

“The sun just shines a little less bright every day,” Arce said.

The family also said an off-duty Midlothian police officer witnessed the crash and was the first to exit his vehicle to try to help. They expressed gratitude for his efforts.

Charges pending in fatal Arlington collision

What’s next:

No arrests have been made, and no charges have been filed. Police said they are continuing to interview multiple witnesses and review surveillance video as the investigation remains active.

Texas officials have adopted a series of new rules for the state’s hemp market—with certain revisions that advocates and stakeholders call a “direct victory,” including changes to make participation in the industry more affordable, and other regulations that threaten to severely restrict product availability.

The Department of State Health Services (DSHS) unveiled the amended hemp rules on Friday, about two months after publishing proposed regulations with licensing fees and other changes that led organizations such as the Texas Cannabis Policy Center (TCPC) to sound the alarm.

In response, the department received more than 1,400 comments urging revisions.

“Revised rules have slashed manufacturer fees from $25,000 to $10,000 and retailer fees from $20,000 to $5,000. This is a direct victory for advocacy,” Heather Fazio, director of TCPC, said in an email to supporters on Monday. “However, significant challenges remain.”

Specifically, the agency decided to maintain language requiring hemp products to be tested for “total THC” content, including THCA, which means most cannabis flower would be considered non-compliant with limitations imposed under state law.

“We estimate this will hand 50 percent of the legal market to illicit operators, making our state less safe,” Fazio said.

TCPC and other groups such as the Texas Hemp Business Council (THBC) have also pointed out that there would be additional requirements imposed on hemp businesses with respect to product testing, labeling and record-keeping.

Separately, under a proposed rule from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) there would also be a “less consequential, but important” update to the hemp program, Fazio said, with the agency seeking to prohibit the on-site consumption of hemp at businesses where alcohol isn’t allowed. There would be no “sampling” exceptions in place, either.

(Disclosure: Fazio supports Marijuana Moment’s work with a monthly Patreon pledge.)

TCPC did share a piece of positive news for advocates, noting “steady progress” in expanding the state’s medical cannabis program under a law enacted last year. While adult-use legalization has continued to stall in the conservative legislature, the medical marijuana program is significantly expanding, with nine new licenses already approved and three more expected before April 1.

Meanwhile, last week, Texas voters approved a marijuana legalization question that appeared on the state’s Democratic primary ballot.

As part of the primary election on Tuesday, each major party was able to place several non-binding propositions on the ballot that allow voters show how they feel on key issues. The Texas Democratic Party used one of its propositions to find out where the electorate stands on legalizing cannabis and whether past convictions should be expunged.

For what it’s worth, a statewide poll released last month found that Texas voters don’t like how state leaders and lawmakers have handled marijuana and THC policy issues. In the survey, a plurality of voters (40 percent) said they disapprove of how their elected officials have approached the issue, according to the survey. Just 29 percent said they approve of how cannabis issues have been handled, while 31 percent said they didn’t have an opinion one way or another.

A separate poll released last year found that a plurality of Texas voters want the state’s marijuana laws to be made “less strict.” And among the legislative items lawmakers considered during recent special sessions, voters say a proposal to address hemp regulations was among the least important.

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For its part, the state Department of Public Safety in October adopted additional rules to increase the number of licensed dispensaries, establishing security requirements for “satellite” locations and authorizing the revocation of licenses for certain violations.

DSHS also recently finalized rules allowing doctors to recommend new qualifying conditions for cannabis patients and creating standards for allowable low-THC inhalation devices.

Meanwhile, bipartisan Texas lawmakers say the stage is set to advance legislation next session establishing regulations for hemp THC products, with growing understanding among their colleagues that prohibition fails to effectively address concerns about the cannabis market.