(The Center Square) – Bills that would expand Tennessee’s Education Freedom Scholarships are moving through the General Assembly with questions from both parties about the program’s cost and transparency.
Senate Bill 2247/House Bill 2532 would expand the number of scholarships from 20,000 to 40,000 at a cost of $310 million. A bill passed by the General Assembly during a 2025 special session would automatically allow an additional 5,000 scholarships annually.
Gov. Bill Lee and proponents of the bill say demand justifies the additional scholarships. More than 56,000 students applied for the 2026-27 school year, while more than 38,000 applied for the 2025-26 school year, according to the Tennessee Department of Education.
Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, said during a meeting of the Senate Education Committee that he supported the initial bill and was for school choice but had concerns about the cost.
“I’m for increasing it to 5,000 but until we can get better funding, I don’t think I can support the 40,000,” Hensley said.
Henley and Memphis Democrat Raumesh Akbari were the only two senators who voted no to moving the bill to the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee, while seven others voted yes.
Akbari asked Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson what would happen if the state ran into financial trouble.
“Is there a plan to claw back some of the vouchers?” Akbari asked.
“In terms of future expansion, that’s for a future General Assembly, that’s for a future governor,” Johnson said. “But what we know now is we have 56,000 families that are yearning for a better education opportunity for their kids.”
Johnson City Republican Rusty Crowe voted for the bill but said he shared Hensley’s concerns.
“I’ve told my people back home that I was not totally comfortable with, as Senator Hensley said, not really having all the numbers and those sorts of things,” Crowe said. “So I think I have a duty to them to make sure that I have all the information that we can gather before giving this a final vote on the floor of the Senate.”
Rep. Sam McKenzie, D-Knoxville, asked House Majority Leader William Lamberth during a House K-12 subcommittee meeting this week if there was data on how many students who received the scholarship in its initial year were in a private school.
“Don’t know and don’t care,” said Lamberth, R-Portland. “These are all Tennessee children that need education and their parents feel like the schools they’re sending them to are the best for them to receive that education.”
The bill passed the subcommittee 5-3, with Republican Rep. Kirk Haston, R-Lobelville, voting against it. The House Education Committee is scheduled to hear it on Tuesday.
Democrats and Republicans have called for more data about scholarship recipients. House Bill 1544/Senate Bill 1643 would require the Education Department to provide a report on who received the scholarships, which school they attended, and their parents’ income.
The bills are sponsored by Republican Rep. Jody Barrett of Dickson and Sen. Page Walley of Savannah. The House version of the bill is on the K-12 subcommittee’s calendar for next week.
