Texas Comptroller Don Huffines announced a new online dashboard that will display how the state's Education Freedom Accounts program spends public money. The program serves more than 100,000 students, with another 100,000 on a waiting list, according to the Comptroller's office.
The Comptroller's office said the webpage will launch on its website this week. Over the coming weeks it will expand into a full searchable dashboard showing program data including applications received, eligible applicants, funded accounts, students on waiting lists, and income distribution. The dashboard will also feature a link to the Comptroller's whistleblower portal where Texans can report suspected fraud directly to the agency's investigators, anonymously if they choose.
Huffines said the initiative is part of what he called the Taxpayer First Project, an effort to expand public access to government spending data. "Texans deserve transparency to know how their tax dollars are being spent," he said.
The Comptroller's office also announced that an independent, third-party audit of the Education Freedom Accounts program is underway. The audit operates alongside the regular State Auditor's Office review and the Comptroller's own internal oversight.