While the Republican-led effort to expand the state’s school voucher program moved forward in the Tennessee General Assembly this week, legislation to increase data and accountability surrounding the program failed.
The current proposal comes as a bill that would double the amount of school vouchers, known as Education Freedom Scholarships. This would increase the number of available scholarships to 40,000 for the 2026-27 school year.
House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) and Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) are sponsoring the legislation, which they argue is a continuation of what they call "school choice" for parents in Tennessee. On Tuesday, Lamberth cited the program’s more than 56,000 applications as evidence that there is enough demand to warrant an expansion.
The bill advanced in the House Education Committee on Tuesday after an 11-9 vote, though several of the committee’s Republican members voted against the bill.
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One of the Republicans who has been the most outspoken in opposition of expanding school vouchers is Rep. Jody Barrett (R-Dickson). Barrett cited data during Tuesday’s committee meeting that shows a majority of the vouchers are being allocated to students in some of Tennessee’s wealthiest urban areas. Multiple reports have shown that students in Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville and Chattanooga received more vouchers than other parts of the state. Vouchers were awarded in 86 of the state’s 95 counties. Barrett argued that families in rural areas are missing out on the program.
“That means these scholarships are going to the wealthiest kids in the wealthiest families in the wealthiest counties,” Barrett said. “That’s the reality. That’s what’s actually happening.”
Lamberth said the amount of vouchers awarded in urban areas is due to those having higher population densities.
“There’s a lot of people in those counties that are struggling and that are middle income and lower income, and quite frankly, they’re four of the most expensive places to live in this state,” Lamberth said. “Those families are struggling sometimes worse than any other family that lives in rural Tennessee. We have struggles there too, which is why it’s a statewide program.”
Barrett also argued that the state’s private schools might not have the capacity or enough available student seats if a voucher expansion is approved. Meanwhile, House Democrats on the committee criticized public funds going toward private schools and argued that the vouchers, worth $7,295 each, often don’t cover the full cost of private school tuition.
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If signed into law, the 40,000 vouchers would cost Tennessee taxpayers $300 million — the amount Gov. Bill Lee outlined in his proposed state budget earlier this year. This dollar amount has also caused worries among lawmakers due to recent revenue shortfalls and decreasing lottery funds. This poses a threat to the state’s HOPE scholarship program, which is funded by lottery dollars and was formerly supported by sports betting revenue — before that money was diverted to K-12 schools last year as a result of the voucher program.
The committee ultimately passed the legislation, with all of its Democrats and five Republicans voting against the expansion. Those GOP members included Barrett as well as Reps. Kirk Haston (R-Lobelville), Chris Hurt (R-Halls), Renea Jones (R-Unicoi) and Kevin Raper (R-Cleveland).
Additional concerns over accountability and transparency for the voucher program persist among both Democrats and Republicans. At a House K-12 Subcommittee Tuesday morning, Barrett brought forth legislation that would have required the Tennessee Department of Education to submit an annual report to the General Assembly about the Education Freedom Scholarship program. The report would have included information such as the county, school and household income of each voucher recipient, as well as the amount of money it costs the state to run the program.
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Barrett introduced the accountability legislation by quoting Lamberth from a House floor session on Monday, in which Lambert said: “Data and facts are never something that we should be afraid of.” While Lamberth originally said this in the context of his support of a bill to track the immigration status of students, Barrett argued the emphasis on data is also applicable to the voucher program.
“This bill simply requires the department of education to provide us that data necessary for us to make solid, sound decisions for our districts as its related to the Education Freedom Scholarship,” said Barrett. “All we’re asking the department to do by providing us this data is give us the information that is necessary for us to make this program better.”
That legislation narrowly failed in the committee, where it received a 4-4 vote. Republicans Haston and Rep. Mark White of Memphis voted in favor of the accountability effort, along with Democrats Yusuf Hakeem of Chattanooga and Sam McKenzie of Knoxville.
An attempt to increase accountability for vouchers by Rep. Caleb Hemmer (D-Nashville) also failed in the committee. Hemmer’s bill would have allowed the program to be audited by the state. Another failed effort for transparency came from Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville), who introduced legislation that would have required private schools participating in the voucher program to make their curriculum and educational materials public, and would have required the private schools’ instructors to hold a valid teaching license and undergo the same evaluations as public schools. Johnson’s bill also would have required students participating in the voucher program to take the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program.
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
