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Tennessee Republicans fired up about Trump voucher order • Tennessee Lookout [1]
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Date: 2025-01-29
Editor’s note: This story has been updated since original publication.
Tennessee lawmakers backing a private-school voucher plan got a bounce Wednesday from President Donald Trump, who signed executive order to expand “school choice” programs nationwide, according to reports.
Under the plan, the U.S. Department of Education would be directed to make “school choice” programs a priority and offer grants to schools and school districts with voucher programs. In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services would notify states about the potential for receiving grants that could go to faith-based and private schools.
Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson of Franklin told Republican colleagues about the president’s looming executive order, and several of them wondered whether Tennessee could apply for funding. Johnson had few details about the order but said he would provide more information.
Lawmakers are slated to take up Gov. Bill Lee’s $450 million private-school voucher plan Thursday and wrap up a four-day special session.
Lee’s plan calls for providing more than $7,000 each to 20,000 students statewide and then expanding by about 5,000 annually. Half of those students in the first year could come from families with incomes at 300% of the federal poverty level, an estimated $175,000 for a family of four, while the rest would have no income limit. No maximum income would be placed on the program after the first year.
A financial analysis by the state’s Fiscal Review Committee determined K-12 schools will lose $45 million and that only $3.3 million would go toward 12 school districts most likely to lose students.
The legislature put $144 million in this year’s budget for the program, even though it failed in 2024. If it passes, the program is expected to cost more every year as the state increases funding for K-12 public schools.
In addition, the state will spend $2.6 million to hire 11 people to run the private-school voucher program. But those are supposed to be filled through vacancies within the Department of Education, according to Johnson.
For fiscal 2026-27, the voucher program is expected to cost $188 million and exceed that amount in subsequent years, according to a state financial analysis.
A total of $65 million from Tennessee’s sports wagering program is to go toward K-12 school construction projects. And under an amendment approved this week, more funds will go to schools in distressed and high-growth counties.
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