Tennessee looks to become 10th state to pass universal school choice
Republican Gov. Bill Lee on Tuesday unveiled the Tennessee Education Freedom Scholarship Act of 2024 (TEFS), a new statewide school choice program that he argues will "empower parents" with the freedom to choose where they send their child.
Tennessee in 2019 enacted the Education Savings Accounts Pilot Program (ESA), which is currently only available to students from low and middle-income households in Chattanooga, Memphis, and Nashville.
Lee looks to expand eligibility for a taxpayer-funded voucher program to every child in Tennessee. The funds would cover the tuition of a student going to a private school. Furthermore, Tennessee's House and Senate leadership endorsed Lee's universal school choice proposal.
The measure prioritizes economically disadvantaged populations, and, then it will be universally available, according to a press release from Lee’s office.
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The governor's office stated for the 2024-25 school year, there are 10,000 scholarships available for students who are at or below 300% of the federal poverty level, have a disability, or are eligible for the existing ESA pilot program.
Moreover, there are 10,000 additional scholarships available to a universal pool of students.
In the 2025-26 school year and beyond, the voucher program will expand to universal eligibility for all students entitled to attend a public school.
The measure would give parents a say in "where their tax dollars are spent," Lee said at a press conference on Tuesday.
He added that the Volunteer State has been trying to pass universal school choice since 2019 and noted how nine other states have made it happen.
"It’s time for Tennessee to move in that same direction," Lee said.
The governor stressed that parents knowing what's best for their child’s education is the premise of the new school choice measure.
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Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who signed a universal school choice bill earlier in the year, also spoke alongside Lee at the press conference.
"There is an absolute conservative education revolution happening in our country and I wanted to be part of it here in Tennesee and in my home Arkansas.," Huckabee Sanders said.
However, a Tennessee Democrat claimed the effort was "part of a real scam."
Democratic State Sen. Heidi Campbell told FOX News Digital that "this is part of a real scam actually that's been going on for a long time in our state."
"It has absolutely nothing to do with choice, despite the really enticing name. It's not about freedom at all," she said. "It's about gutting our public schools and taking money out of our public school system so that it can be funneled inevitably to private out-of-state investors."
Campbell believes "public dollars should be going into public education."
She added, "And I'd also say that the data from other states who've employed us clearly shows us that that's not the case. We see time and time again in other states where this has been enacted. The students are performing poorly and inevitably there's huge attrition."
American Federation For Children (AFC) senior fellow Shaka Mitchell, who has been active in Nashville, Tennessee, and played a role in passing the 2019 ESA Pilot Program in 2019 supports the new proposal.
"The Education Freedom Scholarship Act affirms what parents already know - children deserve an education that meets their specific needs," Mitchell said.
Mitchell's colleague, AFC senior fellow Corey DeAngelis, said the school choice revolution is here to stay.
"Tennessee will fund students, not systems – and there’s nothing Randi Weingarten and the teachers unions can do about it," he said.
Lee’s move came after a wave of red states passed universal school choice, with Arizona leading the charge last year in July. The Grand Canyon State opened up its Educational Savings Account program to all students, eliminating restrictions that had limited it to those in poor-performing school districts, Indian reservations, and those with disabilities.
Other Republican governors followed suit, making significant inroads in pushing universal school choice legislation, which did not exist anywhere in the country a few years ago.
While Tennessee looks to become the tenth state to pass universal school choice, more states are on the verge of joining the fray, including Alabama and Texas.