Will School Choice Win Out in Tennessee? Lawmakers Have Two Weeks to Finalize ‘Education Freedom’ Act
Tennessee’s Republican Governor Bill Lee is determined to make his state the latest to overhaul its education system to embrace school choice, but with a deadline to get it done just a few weeks away, several hurdles remain.
With two weeks remaining before the legislative session of the Tennessee General Assembly comes to a close, lawmakers in the state House and Senate have put forward two very different versions of Lee’s proposed school choice measure, known as the “Education Freedom Scholarship Act.” Despite the differences, both legislative leaders and Lee tell The Daily Wire they are confident they will get a school choice measure passed, though precisely what it will look like won’t be known until the end of the session on April 25.
Lee’s school choice plan calls for scholarships worth $7,000 to be made available to 20,000 students in the 2024-2025 school year. Of the available scholarships, half would be reserved for poor people, with the remaining half allocated on a first come, first serve basis. The goal for the next school year would be for universal eligibility for all students in the state to use at private schools, charter schools, or for homeschool families.
“A parent ought to decide where their kid goes to school and what they learn, and not the government,” Lee told The Daily Wire in an interview. “That’s what choice is really about: the government not deciding everything about a kid’s education in a state, but the parents deciding that.”
The House and Senate versions of the Education Freedom Scholarship Act have been working their way through committees over the last several weeks. Both versions set aside around $144 million for the 20,000 scholarships and do not automatically expand the amount of scholarships, meaning the cap would need to be lifted by future General Assemblies. They both also reserve 10,000 for lower-income students and 10,000 more broadly open for anyone. However, who and where the scholarships can be eligible depends on which version gets passed. (Read more from “Will School Choice Win Out in Tennessee? Lawmakers Have Two Weeks to Finalize ‘Education Freedom’ Act” HERE)
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