Texas Private Schools Face Minimal Oversight Despite State Funding Expansion

For years, some Texas private schools have engaged in governance and financial practices that would be illegal in public schools. According to reporting by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, 27 private schools examined through tax filings engaged in more than 60 transactions, appointments, and hiring decisions that would have violated laws and conflicted with state rules on nepotism and self-dealing if the schools were public.

However, private schools have historically operated outside these rules because they do not directly receive taxpayer funding. That could soon change: Texas lawmakers are preparing to allocate at least $1 billion over the next two years to private education programs, yet oversight measures remain limited.

Mark Weber, a public school finance lecturer at Rutgers University, told the newsrooms that the lack of accountability is alarming. “If I were a taxpayer in Texas, I’d be asking, who’s going to be looking out for me?”

Public vs. Private School Oversight

Texas has traditionally resisted widespread adoption of school voucher programs, unlike other conservative states. This year, Gov. Greg Abbott signed one of the country’s largest and most expensive voucher initiatives into law. While the administration claims the program includes “strict financial requirements,” the law does not prevent private schools from engaging in governance and financial practices that would be illegal in public schools.

In public and charter schools, violations of nepotism and conflict-of-interest rules can lead to removal from office, fines, or even felony charges. Private schools, by contrast, face no such penalties.

Supporters of the voucher program argue that accountability should instead come from school boards and the marketplace. Patrick Wolf, an education policy professor at the University of Arkansas, told the newsrooms that parents can enforce oversight by choosing where to enroll their children.

However, transparency remains limited. According to reporting by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, only nonprofit private schools are required to file tax forms that reveal some financial details, while religious or for-profit schools often provide no public record of how funds are spent. Whether private schools participating in the voucher program will need to disclose expenditures remains unclear.

Bob Schulman, an education attorney who has represented charter schools in Texas for decades, told the newsrooms: “I’m very disturbed, but I’m hopeful that oversight of private schools under the new voucher program will improve more quickly than it did for charters.”