Texas鈥� chief financial officer on Monday named the organization that will help the state build the school voucher program lawmakers approved earlier this year.
Odyssey, a technology company, will work with the comptroller鈥檚 office, which oversees finances for all of Texas state government, to design the process through which Texas families can apply to receive thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds to cover their children鈥檚 private or home-schooling costs. Odyssey will also develop a system for those families to shop for educational products and pay tuition.
Applications for Texans to participate in the program are expected to open at some point early next year. The program, named 鈥淭exas Education Freedom Accounts,鈥� will then launch at the beginning of the 2026-27 school year.
鈥淲e鈥檙e moving quickly to launch this program, keeping the end goal in sight every step of the way 鈥� giving parents the freedom to choose the best educational path for their children to reach their God-given potential,鈥� said Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock in a statement. 鈥淭his is about empowering families, expanding opportunity and making sure every child can learn in the environment that works best for them.鈥�
The law that created the voucher program gives Odyssey tremendous responsibility, including raising awareness about the statewide initiative and managing complaints.
The law authorizes the state to provide the company up to 5% of the program鈥檚 $1 billion funding 鈥� $50 million 鈥� to administer it. That number could skyrocket by the year 2030, when legislative budget experts costs of the program to reach nearly $5 billion.
According to its , Odyssey was created to help administer education savings accounts, a term that refers to . Odyssey has also helped with the maintenance of similar programs in Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Utah and Wyoming, according to the comptroller.
The company in 2023 was in a contest founded by Janine and Jeff Yass, the Pennsylvania billionaire who donated to Gov. Greg Abbott鈥檚 campaign last year during his effort to unseat the Texas Republicans who had helped derail an earlier voucher proposal from becoming law. After winning the half-million-dollar award, Joseph Connor, Odyssey鈥檚 founder and CEO, the Yass family for starting 鈥渁n incredible movement to push for school choice and education freedom nationwide.鈥�
In a statement Monday, Connor said the company is 鈥渢hrilled鈥� to work with the state in launching the voucher program.
鈥淗aving successfully served hundreds of thousands of students across the nation, we are ready to deliver a user-friendly and trustworthy platform that can ensure a seamless rollout,鈥� Connor said.
Odyssey鈥檚 work in other states has not come without scrutiny. The company was in 2023 for 鈥渟ubstantial material misrepresentations鈥� during its bid to help administer Iowa鈥檚 voucher program, though a judge later dismissed the complaint. An audit of Idaho鈥檚 program, which Odyssey also helped run, up to $180,000 in ineligible, taxpayer-funded purchases. The company agreed to reimburse the state for the unauthorized transactions, along with it had collected from unspent federal funding for the program.
Odyssey was also subject to complaints from participating families in the program, including one who said it was , according to ProPublica. It later lost its contract in Idaho but told the news organization that the loss was due to being "undercut on price" and that the state鈥檚 decision to move on had "nothing to do with performance."
Senate Bill 2, which authorized Texas鈥� voucher program, tasked the state鈥檚 finance chief with designing the program, allowing the office to select up to five organizations to help oversee that process.
Odyssey appears to be the only company chosen. The Texas Observer earlier this year that the company retained former Abbott chief of staff Luis Saenz to advocate for its interests during the 2023 and 2025 legislative sessions. The finance and technology company also hired Daniel Warner, a lobbyist and former policy adviser to former Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan, as its Texas state director.
This article originally appeared in at .
The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.