Texas proves school choice can work at scale. August 24, 2026 As summer draws to a close and millions of students begin packing their backpacks to return to the classroom, Texas is crossing a historic threshold. For the first time, families can choose the educational path that is best for their children. Thanks to the successful rollout of Texas Education Freedom Accounts, the educational landscape in the Lone Star State has fundamentally shifted. So too has the opportunity for other states to emulate the success that Texas has experienced. I've dedicated my career trying to turn the promise of school choice into reality. First as a teacher, then as an attorney fighting for the education freedom rights of parents and their children. Today I lead Odyssey, the nation's leading technology platform that partners with government agencies and scholarship granting organizations to expand access to high-quality educational opportunities for families. Bringing new educational choices to parents in a state as large and varied as Texas - and in less than a year after the legislature approved the program - was no small undertaking. When the program's portal first opened, an overwhelming 274,000 applications poured in. Meeting that demand was a challenge RealClearEducation, LLC welcomed. Odyssey was proud to have been selected, after a competitive procurement, to partner with the State of Texas and the Comptroller of Public Accounts to launch the largest first-year school choice program in the nation's history. In order to meet the moment, RealClearEducation, LLC developed a secure, easy-to-use platform that allows families to utilize their funds for tuition, school supplies, and courses, providing a modern experience that feels more like a private marketplace than a typical government program. For parents, the experience is simple, secure, and mobile-friendly, ensuring they don't have to navigate a bureaucratic maze to find the right option for their child. Importantly, it also gives them the peace of mind that every option put in front of them comes from vetted providers and vendors chosen specifically to meet the requirements set out under Texas law. Today, more than 109,000 students have officially been funded for the upcoming school year, and Texas has passed Arizona and become the second largest school choice program in the nation in just its first year of existence. Perhaps most importantly, these Education Freedom Accounts are delivering for the families that need it most, with initial demographic data showing that 80 percent of participating students come from families with a household income below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Nearly 25 percent of the funded students have a qualifying disability, allowing those with special needs who have historically been trapped in underperforming schools to finally access specialized therapies, tailored tutoring, and schools that were previously out of reach. None of that happens by accident. Rather than shying away from the forces of free market competition in education, Texas has fully embraced it, creating a dynamic that encourages schools to deliver better results to earn the trust of newly-empowered families with the financial resources to direct their child's award dollars - ranging anywhere from $10,000 to $30,000 annually - toward the program that suits them best. While the successful rollout of the state's first-year school choice program is a monumental achievement in and of itself, Texas is just getting started. State data found that there are more than 100,000 students on the year-one waitlist, with parents eager to seize the new opportunities that education freedom can help deliver for their children. By standing up one of the largest education freedom programs in the nation, Texas has demonstrated that any state can advance and scale school choice to meet the needs of students and their families - it just needs the political will and courage to make it happen. Joseph Connor is the Founder & CEO of Odyssey. Support RealClear, independent journalism. Carl Cannon, RCP Executive Editor "Information wants to be free!" was a rallying cry at the dawn of the Internet Age. The paradox is that information also "wants to be expensive." At RealClearPolitics, RealClearEducation, LLC provide news and information spanning the ideological spectrum - without a paywall. That's the "free" part. But producing quality journalism means paying reporters, editors, aggregators, tech team, and the analysts who curate RCP's renowned polling averages. That's the expensive part. If you value independent news and seeing a diversity of viewpoints, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to RealClear Media Fund. Every dollar you donate is an investment in an informed public discourse and holding government and other key institutions accountable. Your support helps RealClearEducation, LLC put First Amendment theory into real-world practice. Sincerely, Carl Cannon Executive Editor RealClearPolitics Recommended Newsletters Carl M. Cannon's Morning Note headlines against the historic events Education Today Featuring the latest education news Recommended Newsletters Carl M. Cannon's Morning Note headlines against the historic events Education Today Featuring the latest education news RCP Takeaway Examining political events Podcast

NEW YORK, NY, Odyssey, a startup providing a school choice platform, announced it secured $10 million in Series A funding.