(The Center Square) – The Knox County Board of Education approved a legislative agenda that includes opposition to mandates that would require Tennessee’s public school districts to check students’ immigration status.
Tennessee state Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, and William Lamberth, R-Portland, sponsored a bill in the 2025 General Assembly session that would have required the checks. Watson’s bill mandated them, while Lamberth’s gave schools the option to conduct them.
Knox County Board of Education members included a tenet in their legislative agenda asking the state to support the principle that public schools exist to educate all children.
“We believe that any proposal which places additional administrative or documentation burdens on school systems, particularly those that shift responsibilities away from instruction and toward eligibility determination raises serious concerns regarding cost, saff capacity and the effective use of educational resources,” the board said in the agenda approved by a vote of 6-3 on Thursday.
The Senate passed the bill and it remains in the House. It could be revived when lawmakers return to Nashville in January.
Democrats and some Republicans opposed the legislation.
Sen. Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, said he believed the bill punishes children for the “wrongdoing of their parents.”
“I don’t think that’s the proper way to do,” Haile said. “We need to address the issue itself rather than using children as a pawn in this.”
Watson said during the bill’s debate that it was about finances. He cited a resolution from the Rutherford County School Board that said the funding needed to educate non-English speaking students is $3,500 more per student in his rebuttal. The board said school systems were experiencing increasing financial pressure.
“Much has been made today of social arguments,” Watson said during the bill’s debate. “This is a financial issue.”
If passed, the bill could jeopardize Tennessee’s federal education funding, according to an analysis of the bill. A 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision established the right to education for all students, regardless of immigration status.
“Violations of federal civil rights laws may place this funding at risk, however, the specific amount at risk is undetermined,” analysts wrote in the bill’s fiscal note.
Tennessee receives $1.1 billion in federal funding each year. Local school systems and charter schools could also face a loss of federal funds, analysts said.
