Early Voting Begins Feb. 17

Early voting in the March 3 primary begins Monday, Feb. 17 and concludes on Friday, Feb. 27. A full slate of contested races will be on the ballots in both Republican and Democratic primaries. The deadline to request a mail ballot is Feb. 20, according to votetexas.gov.

One of the most closely watched statewide races for both parties are the primary races for U.S. Senator. Incumbent GOP Sen. John Cornyn faces two challengers: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Houston. On the Democratic side, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, faces state Rep. James Talarico, D-Round Rock. There are many other contested races on the ballot as well.

Voters can access election information, find out if they are registered to vote, and obtain other pertinent information at votetexas. gov.

More than 30K Voucher Applications on First Day More than 30,000 school voucher applications were submitted last week on the first day of the state’s new program to give families taxpayer- funded accounts for private school tuition and homeschooling expenses, the Houston Chronicle reported. The applications will be accepted until March 17 and are not first-come, first-served.

The Legislature provided $1 billion in funding for the program’s first year, which is projected to support up to 100,000 accounts. If it receives more applications than can be funded, an income-and disability-based lottery will be held to determine which families receive vouchers.

“When parents have more options, students have more opportunity — and that’s a win for Texas,” acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock said in a news release.

Officially called Texas Education Freedom Accounts, the program is being administered by the state comptroller’s office and Odyssey, a New York-based tech contractor.

School Walkouts Could Trigger TEA Probes A rash of student walkouts in Texas to protest the ongoing ICE crackdown in Minnesota has prompted the Texas Education Agency to warn school districts they could face investigations and possible loss of funding, The Dallas Morning News reported. In a letter sent last week to school districts, the agency warned that students must be marked as absent, with schools risking loss of daily attendance funding. It stated that teachers or school systems who “facilitate walkouts” will be subject to investigation and sanction.

After thousands of students from 14 campuses in the Austin ISD left class to protest ICE activity, Greg Abbott called on Education Commissioner Mike Morath to investigate.

“AISD gets taxpayer dollars to teach the subjects required by the state, not to help students skip school to protest,” he wrote on X. “Our schools are for educating our children, not political indoctrination.”

Besides Austin, several school districts in and around the Dallas-Fort Worth area experienced student walkouts. Organizers pointed out that protests are protected speech, with the harshest consequence being an unexcused absence.