As lawsuits mount, Muslim families say the state’s exclusion isn’t about academics—it’s about identity. Amid ongoing court challenges over the exclusion of Muslim schools from Texas school choice funding, Rich Matthews, a reporter for Context Corner, visited Islamic schools in Plano to hear directly from students, parents, and community leaders affected by the policy.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has argued that Islamic schools should not be eligible for school choice funds. His stance has sparked lawsuits from parents and Islamic schools, who say the exclusion amounts to religious discrimination.
Sayed, a Plano teenager and young leader at his mosque, attends an Islamic school. When asked whether he is being radicalized or simply educated, he was unequivocal.
“No, not at all,” Sayed said. “I go to an Islamic school. Everybody’s fair and equal. There’s no racism, no backbiting—nothing like that.”
He added that the governor’s policy unfairly targets Muslim families. “What Governor Abbott is doing is discrimination against Muslims. We all pay equal taxes, and we should get equal rights.”
Despite the legal challenge, Abbott has doubled down on his position. In a post on X, he said Texas does not want school choice funds going toward what he described as “radical Islamic indoctrination with historic connections to terrorism.”
Parents say that characterization misrepresents what actually happens inside Islamic schools. Many Muslim families choose these schools because, alongside the standard public curriculum, students also receive religious instruction.
One father said the governor’s comments suggest a lack of understanding about how Islamic schools operate. “We are just like everyone else. We have nothing to hide,” he said. “Come and see what we’re doing in our mosque. Come and see what we’re teaching in our schools. We follow curricula that are state‑based and federally based.”
Community leaders emphasize that the schools in question are not being excluded for failing to meet academic or regulatory standards. Instead, they argue, the exclusion is rooted solely in the schools’ religious identity.
Although the legal battle continues, one imam believes the policy will not ultimately determine the schools’ future.
“God provides, not Abbott,” he said. “God sustains and maintains what is meant to reach someone. No man, no woman, no human on earth can take that away.”
Advocates for the schools stress that the core issue remains one of equal treatment. They say the debate is not about academic performance or compliance, but about whether religious schools—specifically Islamic ones—are entitled to the same consideration as others under Texas’s school choice system.
