Tennessee’s latest private school voucher expansion proposal would add Knox County, too

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Tennessee’s private school voucher program, currently limited to eligible students attending public schools in Memphis and Nashville, would be expanded to all four of the state’s boroughs under new legislation.

A bill to expand the program to Chattanooga-based Hamilton County Schools passed the Senate last week. And as part of a new GOP measure recently tabled in the House of Representatives, which faces its first vote next week, the bill could be amended to include Knox County schools as well.

Rep. Mark White, R-Memphis, who is co-sponsoring the expansion bill with Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, said Thursday he is trying to add Tennessee’s third-largest district at the request of some Republican lawmakers in the Knoxville area.

The proposal marks recent efforts to expand eligibility for Gov. Bill Lee’s education savings account program, which provides eligible families with taxpayer money to use towards private school fees.

The scheme was launched last fall as a pilot program under a 2019 voucher law that has cleared a number of legal obstacles and continues to face challenges in court. The law allows up to 5,000 students to enroll in the program’s first year, but according to the Tennessee Department of Education, the state has so far approved just over 700 applications for families wishing to exit Memphis-Shelby County Schools and Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools School year.

The House Education Administration Committee, which White chairs, is scheduled to review the expansion bill and White’s Knox County amendment on March 29.

Rep. Bryan Richey has tabled a more ambitious amendment to accept vouchers statewide, but White doesn’t expect a vote on the Maryville Republican’s proposal.

“If he tries to pass this amendment, Gardenhire’s law will be nullified,” White said. “I told him, ‘Don’t do it this year, do it next year.'”

That comment — and this year’s expansion bill — point to the larger goal of the governor and many Republicans, according to Rep. Gloria Johnson, a Knoxville Democrat who opposes coupons.

“You’re going to push the limits,” Johnson said, “until all of Tennessee’s public tax money goes to private schools and charter schools for education.” And none of these schools are kept at the same level as our traditional public schools.”

Lee, who recently began his second term as governor, has said he wants both quality public schools and more educational opportunities for families, even as vouchers and charter schools divert funding away from traditional public schools.

When Gardenhire filed the original expansion bill in December, it said Hamilton County Schools was the only district affected. But White said state legislators from several other counties later approached him to include their local school districts as well.

On Wednesday, Gardenhire told Chalkbeat that it supports efforts to bring Knox County into its legislature. If the House agrees, he plans to bring the expanded scope of the bill back to the Senate for a vote.

But several other Knox County lawmakers, including at least one Republican, say they will vote against any expansion.

“I think we have a very good school system in Knox County and parents already have a lot of choices,” said Knoxville Republican Senator Richard Briggs.

Briggs noted that students have the option of attending magnet schools, a charter school, specialized learning academies, international baccalaureate programs, and transferring between the district’s 90 schools while space is available.

Briggs added that the last time lawmakers voted on school vouchers, a majority of the Knox County delegation voted against.

“And there is definitely no support for them among our citizens,” he said.

The Knox County School Board has passed several anti-coupon resolutions over the years. However, that body has become more divided since the 2022 election, when a new state law opened the door to partisan school board races and brought local education policies under the influence of the national political divide.

Jennifer Owen, a Knox County school board member who did not stand for re-election last year, said she opposes coupons.

“I get texts here from a lot of concerned people,” Owen said of the expansion proposal. “I think people who push something like that call it school choice and people just don’t know what that means. But actually we already have many learning opportunities for children.”

Five Republican representatives from Knox County have signed on as co-sponsors of White’s bill: Michele Carringer, Elaine Davis, Jason Zachary, Justin Lafferty and Dave Wright.

On Thursday, Davis, Zachary and Lafferty told Chalkbeat they support White’s amendment but declined to comment.

Johnson, one of two Knoxville Democrats in the Legislature, said coupon support from some Republican lawmakers isn’t an accurate measure of what most Knox County voters want.

“They respond to particular interests, not the majority of their constituents,” she said.

A second GOP-sponsored draft voucher advancing through the legislature would also expand eligibility for educational savings accounts, although not to the same extent as the Hamilton-Knox legislation.

Sen. Jon Lundberg of Bristol and Rep. Chris Todd of Jackson are working to extend eligibility to students in Memphis and Nashville who have attended private or home schools in the last three school years. Current law states that a student must transfer directly from a public to a private school to be eligible for the program.

Her bill was approved by the Senate in February and is scheduled for a vote in the House of Representatives on March 30.

Tennessee’s Voucher Act designates education savings accounts as a “pilot program” and directs the state auditor to report on the program’s effectiveness after the third year of student enrollment. However, as ongoing litigation delayed the launch of the program, the first report is not due until January 1, 2026.

Chalkbeat (chalkbeat.org) is a nonprofit news organization that reports on public education.

Marta Aldrich is Senior Correspondent covering the Statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact them at [email protected].