Targeted Islamic Schools Are “Really Good”—So Why Are They Being Treated Like Risks?
Texas and Florida are being criticized for excluding Islamic schools from school voucher programs and seeing them as threats without evidence.
Texas and Florida are facing criticism and potential legal challenges over moves to exclude Islamic schools from their school voucher programs.
Both states have tried to designate the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest U.S. Muslim advocacy group, as a foreign terrorist organization, despite its lack of a criminal conviction or any similar federal categorisation.
The Hill reported that GOP efforts to expand school choice options are running directly into what critics say is a rising wave of Islamophobia.
A senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Mandy Drogin, argues the exclusion of Islamic schools from voucher programs is about blocking any public funding linked to “terrorist organizations” or “hostile foreign nations,” not religion.
Critics and Muslim families counter that this security logic is being applied selectively—and that many schools allegedly caught in the net may have no real connection to the groups being cited.
Even Laura Colangelo of the Texas Private Schools Association says the Islamic schools she knows that were left out are strong on curriculum, community culture, and family support—and she doubts they’re doing what they’re being accused of. That raises a sharper question for Muslim families: are these voucher exclusions based on evidence—or on suspicion attached to Muslim civic organizations?
In Texas, around two dozen Islamic schools have been left out of the school choice program over potential connections to CAIR.
And Florida is looking to pass legislation that, if signed into law, would stop schools with ties to CAIR from participating in its program.
The schools targeted by Texas Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock allegedly were accredited by Cognia and hosted events organized by CAIR, which Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has declared a terrorist group.
Those in favor of the move say it is not about religion
“What is going on is that this has nothing to do with religion or freedom of religion. This has everything to do with ensuring that in no way is Texas providing financial support to entities tied to or a part of terrorist organizations or hostile foreign nations like the Communist Party of China,” said Mandy Drogin, senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The position has led to two federal lawsuits filed against Texas by Muslim parents and private schools who argue the state has “systematically targeted Islamic schools for exclusion.”
And whether all these schools even have ties to CAIR is a matter of debate.
“The schools that I know that haven’t been invited — the accredited private schools that happen to be Islamic — are really good schools that have great curriculum … they have a strong community culture. The families really are well served by the schools, and I do not think they’re doing anything that is accused in these opinions,” said Laura Colangelo, executive director of the Texas Private Schools Association.
“I am certain that there are schools that have absolutely no connection to CAIR that could prove that, and I would like for them to be able to have that opportunity,” she added.