Every school teaches your child what it believes is true. In this episode, hosts Marcus and Dana talk through why there is no such thing as a neutral curriculum, what that means for Houston families, and how Texas Education Freedom Accounts are changing what a private or church school costs.
TEFA figures cited are for the 2026-27 school year from the Texas Comptroller: $10,474 for a private school student, up to $30,000 for students with an IEP, and $2,000 for homeschool students. The 2026-27 window is closed; families can join the state's interest list for 2027-28.
Episode transcript
Marcus: Welcome to the Houston Edu Funding podcast. I'm Marcus.
Dana: And I'm Dana. Today we're tackling a question a lot of Houston parents never think to ask: is your child's school actually neutral?
Marcus: Right, because most of us assume school is just math and reading. You drop the kids off in Katy or Pearland or the Heights, they learn their times tables, they come home. Values are our job.
Dana: That's the assumption. But here's the thing. Every school teaches your child what it believes is true. The only real question is whether that matches what you believe is true.
Marcus: Okay, but push back for me a little. Algebra is algebra. A fraction in Spring Branch is the same fraction in Sugar Land.
Dana: Sure, two plus two is four everywhere. But think about everything around the math. Which books get assigned in English class. How history is framed, who the heroes are, what counts as progress. How science talks about where we came from and whether there's any purpose behind it. Every one of those lessons is taught through a lens, a worldview.
Marcus: And the lens isn't always the one you're using at home.
Dana: Often it's the opposite. So picture a kid in Cypress or Friendswood spending seven or eight hours a day hearing one version of what's true, and then coming home to a dinner table that teaches something different.
Marcus: Two worlds.
Dana: Two worlds. And kids are smart. They notice. Over time that tension creates confusion, and it can slowly wear down the foundation parents are working so hard to build. They're not just picking up facts at school. They're being shaped by a competing voice.
Marcus: That's a little sobering, honestly. So what's the part parents miss?
Dana: This is the big one. You can't pull the lens out of a subject. There is no lens-free version of history or literature. The only real choice is which lens gets used.
Marcus: So it's not about finding the neutral school, because that school doesn't exist.
Dana: Exactly. And that's why a faith-based education isn't just a public school with a Bible class bolted on at the end of the day. A good one teaches history, science, literature, all of it, through the same truth you're teaching at home.
Marcus: So when the lens at school matches the lens at home...
Dana: Your child stops living in two worlds and starts building on one foundation. School reinforces your family's values instead of competing with them.
Marcus: Okay, I can hear a lot of Houston parents right now saying, that sounds great, Dana, but private school tuition is not cheap.
Dana: It's the number one objection, and it's fair. But this is where Texas has changed dramatically.
Marcus: Talk about the new program.
Dana: It's called Texas Education Freedom Accounts, T-E-F-A. The Texas Legislature passed it in 2025 with one billion dollars in funding, and the first school year is 2026 to 2027, so it's happening right now.
Marcus: And what does a family actually get?
Dana: For a student attending a participating private school, the award for 2026-27 is ten thousand, four hundred seventy-four dollars.
Marcus: Over ten thousand dollars a year. That covers a big chunk of tuition at a lot of Houston-area Christian and church schools.
Dana: For some schools it covers most of it. Students with disabilities who have an I-E-P can qualify for up to thirty thousand dollars. And homeschool families get two thousand dollars a year.
Marcus: How many families actually applied?
Dana: More than two hundred seventy-four thousand applications statewide in the first window, and over a hundred thousand students have received awards. Priority went to students with disabilities and lower- and middle-income families.
Marcus: So if I'm a Houston parent hearing this for the first time, did I miss it?
Dana: The 2026-27 window is closed. It ran from February to the end of March. But the next application period is for the 2027-28 school year, and families can get on the state's interest list now.
Marcus: And for 2027-28 there's a sibling priority, right?
Dana: Right. Siblings of children already in the program move to the front of the line. So if you have more than one kid, it pays to plan ahead.
Marcus: One more thing worth saying: the funds go to a participating private school, so you want to know which schools in your part of Houston are actually in the program.
Dana: And there are a lot of options across the Houston area, from small church schools to large Christian academies, in Harris County, Fort Bend, Montgomery County, all over.
Marcus: So let's bring it home. If you're a Houston parent, what's the takeaway?
Dana: First, no school is neutral. Every school is teaching your child what it believes is true. Second, you get to choose the lens. And third, in Texas, money is no longer the wall it used to be.
Marcus: Where should folks go to figure out their options?
Dana: Head to houstonedufunding.com. You'll find Houston-area private and church schools, how Education Freedom Accounts work, and how to get ready for the next application window.
Marcus: That's houstonedufunding.com. Thanks for listening, Houston.
Dana: See you next time.