NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced his plans to expand vouchers to all 95 counties across the state.
Currently, the pilot program is in effect for Nashville, Memphis, and Chattanooga following a disputed vote on the House floor in 2019.
Lee's plan — which he is calling "Freedom Educational Scholarships" — will provide thousands of dollars for students to attend private schools. Those behind him, including Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, called it a "conservative education revolution" across the nation.
Lee said supported the idea of school choice long before he entered politics.
"A high-quality education has the power to change the trajectory of a child’s life, and there’s no question that now is the time to make school choice a reality for every Tennessee family," Lee said. "Tennessee’s Education Freedom Scholarships will empower parents with the freedom to choose the right education for their child, while also giving them a say in how their taxpayer dollars are invested. In the coming months, I look forward to working with Tennessee families and members of the General Assembly to accomplish this historic legislative initiative and establish Tennessee as a leader in providing choice for families while also striving toward the best public school system in the country."
Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally echoed sentiments of wanting to push for the legislation in 2024.
"In Tennessee, we can have success in public and private. It's not either/or. It's and. We should empower parents to give them the ability to choose what's best for their child," said Sexton, who according to legislative voting records didn't vote for educational spending accounts in 2019.
The General Assembly will reconvene on Jan. 9. It's not clear who will carry the governor's bill or what it will truly cost.
What a Tennessee statewide voucher plan means
Lee's new proposal for an Education Freedom Scholarship Act would provide an estimated $7,000 per student beginning in the 2024-25 school year, according to the one-pager obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates.
REVEALED: Summary outlines Gov. Bill Lee's plan to expand school vouchers across Tennessee
According to the summary, in the first year, only students who are at or below 300% of the federal poverty level, have a disability or are eligible for the existing ESA pilot program could take part in the program.
Beginning in 2025-26, the plan calls for "universal eligibility for all students entitled to attend a public school."
Funding would be provided "for a minimum of 10,000 scholarships, increasing over time until all Tennessee students who desire a scholarship are awarded one."
The private schools eligible to receive state funding would be programs in one of five categories:
- schools approved by the Tennessee Department of Education
- schools accredited under programs authorized by the Tennessee Department of Education
- schools accredited by regional entities
- schools that are members of religiously-affiliated organizations
- schools that are unaccredited and not members of any religious associations (could be schools with as little as 10 students)
Eligible expenses, according to the summary, would include:
- Private school tuition, fees, and uniforms required by the private school
- Textbooks, curricula, and instructional materials required by the private school
- Tutoring services provided by a tutor or tutoring facility
- Fees for transportation to and from a private school
- Computer hardware, technological devices, and tech fees used for educational needs
- Tuition, fees, textbooks, curricula, and instructional materials for summer and after-school academic programs (public and private), not including after-school childcare
- Fees for early post-secondary opportunity courses or exams, entrance exams required for post-secondary admission, and state-recognized industry certification exams
- Educational therapy services provided by therapists
Tennessee Democrats push back
Democrats had one word to describe the governor's voucher proposal: scam.
They voted against them in 2019 when the voucher educational savings accounts came up on the House and Senate floors.
"Vouchers are a scam and a wealthy family coupon system," Sen. London Lamar, D-Memphis. "I see them increasing the costs of tuition to keep students out of those private schools. It’s interesting the other day we had committee hearings on rejecting federal funds, and it will be a deficit for public schools. Now we have millions for vouchers with rejection in federal funds? Public schools will suffer and we could have invested more in schools."
Democrats might find some support among their Republican colleagues. Many Republicans voted against Lee's ESA program in 2019.
"Let’s call it what it is to divert precious tax dollars away from our local schools and not be required to accept all students," House Democratic Caucus Leader John Ray Clemmons said. "He’s proposing to rip off taxpayers to subsidize the wealthy few."
NewsChannel 5 asked Gov. Lee about that criticism. He didn't deny that the program will expand eligibility to all students of all economic backgrounds, but says low income families will still get first priority. "Those students who have the greatest need for this and the least capacity to access it, will have capacity first. Will have access first. At the end of the day then, every Tennessee family will have the opportunity to access the program," said Lee.
Impact on Public Schools
Democrats also claim the plan will doom public schools who desperately need more funding, not less. "We are talking about public dollars, taxpayer dollars, going to private institutions," said Sen. Raumesh Akbari, the Senate Minority Leader.
But Gov. Lee thinks Tennessee can offer up school choice and properly fund public schools at the same time. "The vast number of our children are going to go to public schools even with a school choice program. We have to be committed to our public school systems, in an even greater way than we have been in the past, and we’ll do that," Lee promised.
Reporters also asked the Governor if voucher students will have to take the same type of standardized testing as public school students, in order to properly track their progress. The Governor said they haven't finalized all the details of the legislation.
Lee has until early next year to convince lawmakers they can do both, which will require buy in from more than just the allies that attended his news conference. "We have a lot of work to do going forward, but very grateful for your attendance. Thank you," Lee said has he concluded his remarks.
Phil Williams contributed to this report.
What is the governor wanting?
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced in 2023 his desire to expand vouchers to all 95 counties across the state.
Lee's plan — which he is calling "Freedom Educational Scholarships" — will provide thousands of dollars for students to attend private schools.
Lee's new proposal for an Education Freedom Scholarship Act would provide an estimated $7,000 per student beginning in the 2024-25 school year, according to the one-pager obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates.
According to the summary, in the first year, only students who are at or below 300% of the federal poverty level, have a disability or are eligible for the existing ESA pilot program could take part in the program.
Beginning in 2025-26, the plan calls for "universal eligibility for all students entitled to attend a public school."
What is Tennessee's current voucher program?
Tennessee's current education savings account is only for three parts of the state: Davidson, Hamilton and Shelby Counties.
Enacted in 2019 by the legislature, it established a program for students to receive money directly for their education rather than a public school system to pay for private education. The vote was contentious with then-Speaker Glen Casada, passing only by one vote with the board held for more than 40 minutes. Now-House Speaker Cameron Sexton didn't vote for the program.
However, the program didn't start until 2022 because of a lawsuit in the chancery court, where those who didn't want the program deemed it unconstitutional. An order was placed in 2020 that the program couldn't begin. Two years later, a three-judge panel lifted an injunction two weeks before the 2022 school year to allow the program to move forward.
The Tennessee Department of Education officials said in summer 2022 they were "excited to restart work" for families and students. During the injunction, the department couldn't work on preparation plans for the ESAs.
Students now have $9,000 to use toward a school, where they could also apply for financial aid to supplement the rest of the cost.
