Democrat Sarah Eckhardt, who defeated incumbent Republican Don Huffines in the Nov. 3 race for Texas comptroller, said at her first news conference on Nov. 4 that she would ensure Islamic and other religious schools are not blocked from receiving money through the state’s $1 billion Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) school voucher program, according to the Houston Chronicle. As comptroller, Eckhardt will oversee the program, which Islamic schools sued to enter this year.
In February, Eckhardt said in a statement that the comptroller “has been instructed by the GOP to illegally discriminate based on religion” by keeping Islamic schools out of the program.
At the Nov. 4 news conference, she said, “I am not a fan of this policy. However, it is a policy that has passed the Texas Legislature, and it is the law. So as the comptroller, I will implement it, because it is the law.” She also said she would review the program’s spending and the data collected by the vendor that runs it.
Brighter Horizons Academy in Garland, one of the Islamic schools now in the program, describes itself on its own website as “a model Islamic educational institute” whose mission is to develop “practicing Muslim Leaders.” The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington think tank, reported that the school received $995,000 from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB).
The bank is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and is affiliated with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a bloc of 57 Muslim-majority countries. Iran is the bank’s third-largest shareholder, while Qatar and Turkey are also among its top 10 shareholders, according to an Oct. 21 FDD report. The U.S. government has designated Iran a state sponsor of terrorism.
The Oct. 21 report found that IsDB has given more than $17 million to at least 50 private Islamic schools in the United States.
