A wave of campus shutdowns is sweeping across Texas. Since 2023, more than 170 public schools have either closed their doors or are slated for closure, according to recent findings from the education advocacy organization Our Schools Our Democracy.

Falling student numbers and severe budget deficits have hit major urban centers especially hard. Fort Worth ISD leads the statewide trend with 21 campuses shut down or facing imminent closure. San Antonio ISD is closing 15 facilities, while both Houston ISD and Austin ISD are shutting down 12 campuses each. Across the state, total public school enrollment fell from a peak of 5.54 million students in the 2024–25 school year to 5.47 million in 2025–26.

Education advocates point directly to state policies promoting school alternatives as the primary catalyst behind the exodus. Carrie Griffith, founder and executive director of Our Schools Our Democracy, noted during an appearance on the Texas Take Podcast that while demographic shifts such as declining birth rates play a part, the aggressive expansion of charter networks alongside the state’s private school voucher initiative represents the single largest factor pulling children away from traditional districts.

That intense competition is clearly visible in suburban districts like Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, the state’s third-largest district. The number of charter schools operating within its boundaries roughly tripled over the last decade, surging from fewer than 50 to more than 140. Local officials estimate that 12,000 neighborhood children attend charters and another 4,000 go to private schools. Similarly, Northside ISD in San Antonio estimates 18,000 eligible local children do not attend district schools, contributing to an overall drop from its 2020 peak of 107,000 students down to a projected 95,000 this year.

The widespread closures have also sparked sharp debate among Texas political leaders. Gov. Greg Abbott dismissed claims that charter systems and private vouchers are hollowing out public education. Speaking Monday from the Governor’s Mansion in Austin, Abbott argued that families are simply leaving high-tax urban cores for more affordable suburban and rural towns, adding that new campuses are actively being constructed to match where population growth is occurring.

Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa strongly pushed back against that narrative, blaming the governor’s policy agenda for starving local districts of essential state funding. Hinojosa stated that withholding funding to force through voucher legislation has devastated public education, leading directly to mass school closures and forcing over 150 financially strained districts across Texas to adopt four-day school weeks.