Hey y’all, 

Last week, I shared a story from Courier Texas’ DFW intern Noemi Castanon about teachers who worked at International Newcomer Academy (INA)—a Fort Worth ISD campus dedicated to teaching immigrant and refugee students English that was shut down as part of the district’s state takeover. This week, you’ll find more of her coverage focusing on alumni and students who will be impacted by the closure. 

Now that Texas families have received their school voucher funds and officially selected their intended private school, we’ll also take a look at a survey released this summer detailing Texans’ thoughts on the impact vouchers will have on public schools and how voucher recipient data undercuts claims made by the program’s proponents.

Let’s get into it!

According to a survey from Lake Research Partners, Texas voters rank education as a top priority this midterm election year, and agree that school vouchers will harm public schools. Here’s a breakdown of the findings:

👉30% of Texas voters surveyed say that education and schools are a top priority this midterm year.

👉Two-thirds of Texas voters agree with the statement “Texas’ new school voucher law will increase school closures and take needed public dollars out of our public schools.”

👉49% of voters strongly agree that vouchers harm schools vs. help them.

Families started receiving funds at the beginning of the month, and had until July 15 to officially select their intended private school or homeschooling path. Although proponents of the program argue the approximate $10,000-$30,000 voucher amount awarded to students gives more school choice to lower-income families and students with disabilities, recent data shows they’re not students primarily benefiting from the program:

👉The majority of recipients already attend private schools.

👉Although students with disabilities were told they could receive up to $30,000, less than 1% actually received that amount.

👉The average tuition cost for special education private schools in Texas is around $23,000, according to Private School Review.

👉As of 2026, average private school tuition in Texas is roughly $14,000 per year, with private high schools across the state costing well over $20,000 per year.

By Noemi Castanon

At 6:30 a.m. in October of 2022, Bryan Mendoza got on a big, yellow school bus for the first time. This was the first day of a new school in a completely different country. For 13 years, home was Guanajuato, Mexico, where he went to school and only ever spoke Spanish—but in Fort Worth and at the International Newcomer Academy, the scene was different.

“I had never been in a school that had children of so many different races,” Mendoza said. “It was such a big impression to think that in such a big world so many cultures coincided in the same place.”

The school served students, ranging from ages 11 to 15, from more than 30 countries who spoke a dozen different languages. They were newly arrived immigrants and refugees enrolling in the district. 

After 33 years of INA supporting these students, the Fort Worth Independent School District’s newly appointed board of managers voted to close it in a unanimous decision on April 28, 2026. 

Throughout July, we’re reading “Sold” by Patricia McCormick. The novel was restricted in Nacogdoches ISD in 2025, and was one of the most challenged books across the country in 2025. 

It follows a young girl from Nepal named Lakshmi who is trafficked in India, and is written in short prose poetry and vignettes.

Here are additional discussion questions to consider as we near the end of the book:

1. How is McCormick portraying the loss of innocence?

2. Explain the difference between a book containing mature topics and a book promoting mature topics.

3. How does the novel challenge assumptions about poverty, race, and gender?