NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee lawmakers on Thursday approved legislation drastically expanding the number of families who can use taxpayer money on private schools regardless of income, a long-sought victory for Republican Gov. Bill Lee with some help from President Donald Trump to win over GOP holdouts.
The bill heads to Lee for his almost-certain signature. Tennessee would join a dozen other states that have eliminated traditional strict income requirements for families seeking to access public dollars to fund alternatives to public education for their children.
Under Tennessee’s proposal, 20,000 education vouchers of around $7,000 each would become available next year. Half of those would go to students who are lower income, disabled or otherwise able to participate in the new voucher program, but any student entitled to attend a public school could access the remaining 10,000.
Thursday’s House and Senate approval occurred within a session specially called by Lee, allowing him to narrowly focus lawmakers’ attention instead of waiting for action during the ongoing, monthslong regular session covering all kinds of topics. The special session began Monday.
Trump weighed in on social media Tuesday. He praised Tennessee lawmakers for “working hard to pass School Choice this week, which I totally support.” Additionally, the Trump administration told the U.S. Education Department to use discretionary money to prioritize school choice programs and give states new guidance on how they can use federal money to support K-12 voucher programs.
The head of the conservative Club for Growth, which is running TV ads lauding the voucher plan, also warned Republican lawmakers that they would fund primary election challengers to try to defeat anyone who opposes the bill.
Supporters have repeatedly argued expanding school choice is critical to supporting parental rights and giving families the best options for their children. At the Republican National Convention, Lee even called school choice the “civil rights issue of our time.”
Yet Democrats, who hold only a sliver of power in Tennessee but led the charge on publicly questioning the governor’s voucher plan, repeatedly pointed out this week the unexpected costs that have popped up in other states and stressed that the legislation would largely benefit wealthy families who don’t need the financial assistance. Legislative analysts assume about two-thirds of the vouchers will go to students already attending private schools.
“Make no mistake, this is welfare for the wealthy,” said Democratic Rep. John Ray Clemmons during Thursday’s floor debate.
Republicans have defended the lax income limits, arguing parents need more choices, regardless of wealth.
“As the sponsor of this legislation, I’ve never once said that this was a program designed for disadvantaged families,” GOP Sen. Jack Johnson said.
The push to expand school vouchers comes as Republicans across the country have increased their criticisms of public schools in recent years. They have said some public schools were too slow to reopen in the COVID-19 pandemic, sought to limit what public schools can teach about race and sexuality, and adopted laws and rules banning transgender athletes in school sports.
Yet when presented directly to voters, school choice expansion efforts have faltered. Last election, Kentucky voters rejected a measure to enable public funding for private school attendance, and Nebraska voters partially repealed a law that uses taxpayer money to subsidize private education. A proposed constitutional amendment in Colorado that would have established schoolchildren’s “right to school choice” also was defeated.
In Tennessee, multiple local school boards passed resolutions stating their opposition to Lee’s voucher plan. Teachers and students flocked to the Capitol this week, holding signs and yelling out as lawmakers walked into floor sessions pleading with them not to gut public education dollars. On Thursday, some protesters handed out fake money labeled “voucher scam bribe.”
Another sticking point was the large amount of testimony from families of students who have learning disabilities pointing out that private schools can and do reject students with certain impairments. A last-minute amendment that would have prohibited private schools from discriminating against students with disabilities was rejected from the House.
Since taking office in 2019, Lee has narrowly won efforts to create a school voucher program for low-income families in three counties. But last year, Lee failed to win enough support to launch a statewide school voucher program no longer based on income.
For the upcoming budget year, more than $400 million would be set aside for the voucher plan that folds in other education initiatives. One of those add-ons is $172 million for one-time bonuses of $2,000 for teachers.
In order to receive it, however, a local school board would have to pass a resolution opting in to the bonus section of the voucher bill. The requirement was added after a number of school boards passed resolutions broadly opposing vouchers.
Legislative budget analysts project the legislation will cost $190.8 million annually in future years.
While Republicans touted their focus on adding billions of dollars to K-12 education in recent years, Democrats noted that Tennessee ranks near the bottom of all states in per-pupil funding for K-12 education.
