Are you a Black Texas family weighing the Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) program — and carrying the weight of history, community, and faith while doing it?

In this episode, Crystal and Anthony Obey have the honest, kitchen-table conversation that Black families in Texas deserve.

They hold both truths at once: the deep, rightful legacy of fighting for public schools AND the real failures of that same system for Black children.

They break down exactly how TEFA's priority tiers favor lower-income families, how the disability funding pathway unlocks up to $30,000, and why faith-based schools built by Black churches stand to benefit directly.

This isn't a sales pitch — it's a candid guide to making the best decision for YOUR family without guilt, without naivety, and without leaving money on the table.

👉 The application window closes March 17th. Don't let uncertainty cost your family an opportunity.

FREE INTRO CLASS:  Get $30,000+/Yr to Fund Your Homeschool Without a 9-5 Job

Hey guys.

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We wanna start this episode by telling

you something honest about ourselves.

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If you haven't noticed, we are black.

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We are faith-based.

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We grew up in communities where the public

school was the center of the neighborhood,

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where the teachers knew our grandparents,

where the principal went to your church.

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Where the building itself was a

symbol of what the community had

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fought for and built together.

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And we are genuinely excited about Tifa.

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We say that knowing full well that

for some people in our community,

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these two things feel like they

cannot be true at the same time.

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The excitement about school choice means

you don't care about public schools.

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That wanting options means you've given

up on the system that taking state money

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is not at best and a trap at worse.

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Personally, we don't believe any of that.

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And we don't think you have

to believe it either to take

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this conversation seriously.

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What we believe is that black families

in Texas deserve the same access to

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complete honest information about

this program as every other family.

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And they deserve to hear it from

people who understand what is actually

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at stake for them specifically.

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So this episode is that

conversation, the one we are

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having at our own kitchen table.

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The one we think a lot of black

Texas families need to have and

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haven't had the space to have yet.

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We are not going to

tell you what to decide.

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We are going to make sure

you have everything you

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need to decide for yourself.

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To understand why this conversation is

complicated for black families in a way

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that it is not for every other community.

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You have to hold two pieces

of history at the same time.

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The first piece is this.

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Black families in America have

been fighting for access to

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quality education for as long as

there has been a Black America.

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And the public school at its best has

been one of the primary mechanisms through

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which that access was won and protected.

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Brown versus Board of Education was

not a fight about school choice.

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It was a fight for the right to access

the same public institutions that were

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being used to maintain inequality.

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The public school for the black community.

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Has a meaning that goes beyond academics.

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It is tied to civil rights, to

community, to the hard won belief that

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we belong in every room that exists.

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The second piece is equally true.

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That same public school system has

also failed black children at a

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disproportionate rate for generations,

underfunded schools in black

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neighborhoods, lower expectations

from teachers, discipline disparities,

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special education over identification.

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And under identification

happening simultaneously.

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The public school system at

its worst, has not been a great

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equalizer for black children.

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Both of those things are true.

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And any conversation about school

choice in the black community

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that doesn't honor both of them is

not having the full conversation.

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This is the tension.

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We want every dollar that could

strengthen our children's education.

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We also do not want to be part of a

movement that drains resources from

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the schools that serve the majority

of black children in this state who

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will not be in the Tifa lottery.

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That is not a simple tension.

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It is a real one, and it

deserves to be named out loud.

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There's also a faith piece to this, right?

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The black church has been the backbone.

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Of alternative education in the

black community for over a century.

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Black church schools, faith-based

academies, freedom schools, the

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tradition of the black community,

educating its own children in its

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own institutions on its own terms.

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According to its own values is not new.

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Tifa puts state money behind what the

community has often been doing on faith

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alone, and that is a different thing

than many people are acknowledging.

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Let's talk about what is actually in

this program for black and brown Texas

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families because beyond the politics.

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There are real dollar amounts

and real opportunities that

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deserve to be understood Clearly,

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The priority system

matters for this community.

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a's lottery prioritization is

structured in a way that is meaningfully

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favorable to lower income families.

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And families with children

who have disabilities.

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Tier one, the highest priority

is children with a qualifying

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disability in households at or below

500% of the federal poverty level.

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Tier two is households at or

below 200% of the federal poverty

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level, which is approximately.

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$66,000 for a family of four.

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Those two tiers represent a significant

portion of black Texas families.

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The program's priority structure

was designed to serve families with

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the greatest financial need first.

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That is worth understanding

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and there is a disability funding pathway.

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We've talked about this in

episode three of this series,

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but it deserves emphasis here.

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Black children are disproportionately

identified with certain disabilities

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in the public school system, and

simultaneously black families often

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have less access to the private,

therapeutic, and educational

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services that support those children.

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TE a's disability pathway, which can

provide up to $30,000 per child for a

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student with a qualifying disability.

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Attending an accredited private school

creates a funding bridge for services

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that black families with a child who

has special needs, have historically had

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to fight for or pay for out of pocket.

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That is real.

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The faith-based school connection.

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The majority of TFA participating private

schools in Texas are faith-based, and many

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of those schools are the very institutions

that black churches and faith communities

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have built and sustained for decades.

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TFA is in a very real sense sending state

money to black faith-based institutions.

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That have been educating black children

without state support for generations.

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If your child attends or could attend

a black church affiliated school, a

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historically black Christian academy,

or any other faith-based school that

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has joined the TFA program, this

money flows to that institution.

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That's not a small thing.

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Now there is a homeschool pathway for

faith-based families who are homeschooling

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because they want their child's education

grounded in their faith and free

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from curriculum they did not choose.

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The homeschool pathway provides $2,000

per child for curriculum tutoring and

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educational therapies and critically.

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Tifa does not tell you what to teach.

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The program governs what

you can spend money on.

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It does not govern how you educate your

child, your faith-based curriculum,

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your values, your worldview.

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Those are yours.

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The state is funding the

education, not directing it.

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And here's a key fact.

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TPAs.

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Eligible expense categories determine what

you can buy with the money they do not

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determine what you teach, what worldview

you teach from, or what your child learns.

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The distinction between funding, education

and controlling it is real and it matters.

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Now we wanna speak directly to the

concerns that a lot of black families are

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carrying into this conversation because

they're legitimate and they deserve

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real engagement rather than dismissal.

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Concern number one, does tifa

drain money from public schools

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that serve black children?

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This is the concern we hear most often and

take most seriously, and the honest answer

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is it depends on how the program scales

and how the state responds over time.

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In year one.

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Tifa is funded from a

$1 billion legislative.

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Appropriation meaning the money was

specifically allocated for this program.

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It does not come directly out of

the existing per student funding

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formula for public schools.

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However, the long-term

relationship between ESA programs

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and public school funding.

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Is a legitimate policy question

that researchers and legislators are

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actively debating across the country.

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The concern that as more families

leave public schools, the political

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will to fund those schools

robustly may diminish over time.

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That is not a conspiracy theory.

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This is a reasonable concern

about how political priorities

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shift we hold that concern too.

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What we also hold is this, the families

most likely to be left in underfunded

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public schools are the families who have

no other option, which is one reason

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why we believe black families who do

have options should be fully informed

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and free to exercise them without guilt,

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which is one reason why we believe

black families who do have options

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should be fully informed and free to

exercise them without guilt, while

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also staying engaged in the fight

for well-funded public schools.

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Those two things are

not mutually exclusive.

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You can take care of your child and fight

for someone else's child at the same time.

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Now, let's get real.

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Taking Tifa does not make you

a traitor to the community.

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Staying in a system that is failing your

child does not make you a community hero.

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The most powerful thing you can do is make

the best decision for your family while

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remaining a voice for every family who

doesn't have the same choice that you do.

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Concern number two, will the

government eventually control what

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we teach in faith-based settings?

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This is the concern that keeps

faith-based families up at night,

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and it deserves a direct answer.

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In the current program, TIFA does

not impose curriculum requirements on

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homeschool families or on private schools

beyond what is required for accreditation.

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The program governs spending.

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It is not governed teaching.

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The legitimate version of this concern

is about trajectory not current rules.

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History gives us reason to be thoughtful.

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Federal funding programs have in

the past come with strings that

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were not visible in year one.

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The faith community's weariness about

accepting government money is rooted

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in real experience, not paranoia.

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Our view is this.

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The families who participate in year

one, who use the program well, who

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document their outcomes, who stay

engaged with their elected officials

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and who make their voices heard in the

process, are the families who will help

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determine what Year five looks like.

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Opting out entirely means the

program's trajectory is shaped

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entirely by families whose values

and priorities may not reflect yours.

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Participation with Eyes Open is

different from naive acceptance.

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The faith community's leverage.

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Black churches and faith-based

institutions that participate

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in Tifa become stakeholders

in how the program evolves.

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Stakeholders have standing, they have

relationships with administrators.

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They have the moral authority

that comes from being in the room.

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That is not nothing that is power.

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Concern number three.

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Is this program really for us or

will we get left out of the lottery?

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Look at the priority tiers.

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Tier one is families with a child

with a disability, at or below

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500% of the federal poverty level.

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Tier two is families at or below

200% of the federal poverty level.

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Black Texas families are represented

significantly in both of those tiers.

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The program structure is

not designed to shut us out.

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Whether it delivers on that

structure in practice, that is

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something year one will reveal.

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But the framework as written is

not working against this community.

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What could work against any

community is not applying.

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If black families in Texas don't

apply because they are uncertain,

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because they haven't heard about the

program, because they don't trust it.

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The lottery reflects who applied, not

who is eligible, and the families.

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And the families who would have

benefited most end up with nothing

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while others take the funding.

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That outcome would be a real loss.

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But we wanna take a step back from

the program details for a moment

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and talk about something bigger.

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Because this episode

is not just about tfa.

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It is about what black families

in Texas are building right now

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with whatever tools are available.

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Every generation of black families

has had to navigate a moment where

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the landscape shifted in ways that

were complicated, imperfect, and

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full of both opportunity and risk.

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The generation that integrated

public schools did not know

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exactly how that would go.

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The generation that built HBCUs

and black independent schools did

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not know exactly how that would go.

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They moved forward anyway because they

understood that waiting for a perfect

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moment means your children wait with you.

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TFA is an imperfect moment.

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The program has real

promise and real questions.

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The funding is real and

the strings are real.

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The opportunity for

faith-based schools is real.

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And the risk of long-term

dependency on state money is real.

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We are not pretending otherwise.

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But we're also not waiting.

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We are applying.

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We are using this funding

for what our family needs.

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We are staying engaged in the conversation

about where this program goes.

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We are continuing to vote for

well-funded public schools because we

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believe every child in Texas deserves

an excellent education regardless

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of what their family chooses.

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And we are showing up as parents who

are informed, involved, and impossible

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to ignore because here's what we

know to be true about the black

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community's relationship with every

major institution in this country.

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We have never been served well by sitting

outside the conversation and watching.

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We have always done better when

we are at the table informed,

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prepared, clear-eyed about risk.

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And unafraid to push back

when something is not right.

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Tifa is a table.

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We are sitting down at it, not because we

trust it completely, not because we think

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it answers every question, but because our

children deserve for us to show up fully

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in every space where decisions are being

made about their futures, what we believe.

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You can take TFA funding and

fight for public schools.

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You can enroll in a faith-based

school and question what government

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involvement might mean down the road.

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You can be grateful for an opportunity

and honest about its risks.

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At the same time, that is not

contradiction, that is wisdom,

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and it is a very black way of

navigating a complicated world.

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Now let's close with action because

everything we've talked about today is

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only useful if it moves people forward.

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Step one, apply.

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If you are a black Texas family

with an eligible child and you have

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not applied, apply, the application

window runs through March 17th.

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It takes 10 to 20 minutes.

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It is not a commitment.

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It's an option.

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You can be selected and decide

not to participate, but you cannot

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be selected if you don't apply.

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Do not let uncertainty cost

your family an opportunity.

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Step two, tell your church.

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Tell your co-op.

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Tell the parent group.

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Tell the family at the next cookout.

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The black community loses ground in

programs like this, not because the

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program excluded us, but because the

information didn't reach us in time.

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You listening to this episode, you

listening to this episode right

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now are part of changing that.

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Share it.

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Step three, if your child's school

is a faith-based institution.

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That is not yet registered with tfa.

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Bring this to your pastor, your

principal, your school board.

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Ask them to look into registering

the community's faith.

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Institutions should be benefiting from

this funding, not watching from the

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outside, while other schools collected.

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Step four, stay engaged

beyond the application.

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Follow the program's development.

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When the participant

handbook comes out, read it.

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When the program proposes rule changes,

pay attention when your elected officials

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are voting on education funding.

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Make your voice heard.

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Tifa is year one of what

may be a long story.

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The community that shapes its

future is the community that stays

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present through the whole story.

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And step five.

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Hold both things at once.

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Hold the excitement about what this

program makes possible for your

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family, and hold the responsibility

to the broader community that

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does not yet have what you have.

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Those two things together, personal

action and community conscious are

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the most powerful combination of black

parent in Texas can bring to this moment.

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If you've been with us from the beginning,

you know that we started this series

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trying to answer all the questions you

may have, including a complete guide,

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and then going into how do Texas families

spend every dollar of their teeth of money

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without leaving anything on the table.

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What we ended up building is

something a little bigger than that.

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We built a resource for families

navigating the largest school

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choice program in American history.

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We built an honest guide for families

with children with disabilities.

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We built a framework for families

trying to choose the right school.

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We built a decision tool for

families who weren't sure.

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We built a visionary conversation

about where education is going.

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And today we had the conversation

that was closest to our own hearts.

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We did all of that without taking a side.

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Not because we don't have views, we

do, but because we believe that the

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most valuable thing we can offer

any parent is not our opinion.

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It is the information and the framework

they need to arrive at their own.

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This program is here.

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The money is real.

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The questions are real.

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The journey is just beginning and

wherever it leads, whatever battles

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come, whatever changes happen, whatever

year two looks like, we will be here

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doing this for your family and for ours.

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Thank you for listening.

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Thank you for sharing.

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Thank you for trusting us

to be part of this with you.

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Now go apply.

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Go tell somebody and come back

because the story is not finished.