NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's been less than 48 hours, and lawmakers are already making a clarification on the voucher legislation filed on Wednesday for Tennessee schools.
House Majority Leader William Lamberth and Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson introduced the legislation dubbed the Education Freedom Act of 2025. The 11-page bill has provisions for school choice and public schools all in one package after a highly contentious 2024 session led to no compromise on the initiative.
I talk to our political analyst the player above, who explains the back and forth.
Both Johnson and Gov. Lee talked about a key piece of the legislation — the formula that calculates money for public schools.
Every year, state funding for schools is determined by enrollment. In this plan, lawmakers wrote funding wouldn't decrease if enrollment dipped for school districts if students and their families instead enrolled at a private school with a voucher.
Gov. Lee said that would remain intact in perpetuity. Sen. Johnson said it would last only for the 2025-2026 year.
Sen. Johnson's office clarified to NewsChannel 5 on Thursday afternoon that the governor's interpretation was correct, meaning no dip in enrollment for any district will affect its overall state funding for school years to come. In addition, of school districts see population changes, the funding formula also wouldn't drop under this version of the voucher bill.
"That happens when you’re dealing with something as complex and as costly as something like this can be," said Pat Nolan, NewsChannel 5's Political Analyst.
We showed Pat the language of the bill. He thinks the way it's currently written, the desired outcome the Governor is expressing is not abundantly clear.
"I think some people are going to want to see some more exact language in the bill so they know what they’re getting into," said Nolan.
Pat says it's significant that House and Senate leaders have gotten on the same page for this voucher proposal — given it never truly got off the ground earlier this year because chamber leaders couldn't agree.
That being said, just because House and Senate leadership are on the same page, doesn't mean all Republicans agree. Nolan argues, if they can do that, vouchers are a foregone conclusion.
"If they stay united, the teacher’s unions, the Democrats and others can raise all kinds of cane about it, but it’s going to pass," he said.
The state is planning to offer 20,000 vouchers if the legislation is passed in 2025. Those vouchers are around $7,000 per student, per year.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email us at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com or emily.west@newschannel5.com.
There are still so many families in East Tennessee hurting following the floods from Hurricane Helene in September. That made this year's running of the Santa Train extra special for many families in the northeast part of the state. This special Santa Express has been making an annual run in part of Appalachia for over 80 years.
-Lelan Statom
