(The Center Square) – The Tennessee Senate agreed to increase the Education Freedom Scholarships by 5,000 less than second-term Republican Gov. Bill Lee proposed, by just four votes, with eight Republicans voting against it.
House Bill 2532 adds 10,000 scholarships to the 5,000 already approved by the 2025 law that enacted school choice, bringing the total number to 35,000 for the 2026-27 school year.
Lee proposed adding 15,000 scholarships, doubling the current 20,000 to 40,000, at a price tag of $304 million. The money would come from the general fund and not the public school funding formula.
Nashville Democrat Charlane Oliver called the bill “irresponsible.”
“We are injuring ourselves, especially in a time when inflation is high, where our budget does not have new revenue, we are pushing money out the door,” Oliver said.
Republican Sens. Janice Bowling, Richard Briggs, Todd Gardenhire, Tom Hatcher, Joey Hensley, Jessie Seal, Steve Southerland and Page Walley voted against the bill.
Hensley said he voted for the school choice bill in 2025 but could not vote for the increase.
“I think when we pass legislation, the people should be able to depend on us doing what we say that we’re going to do,” Hensley said. “We put the 5,000 scholarships so that it could increase every year, and that was going to depend on funding. I think we should stick to the 5,000 increase every year.”
The bill requires an annual report on scholarship recipients that would include the county of residence, whether they were in a public school when they applied, and their annual household income.
Also included is a provision that allows school districts to recoup student enrollment funding losses if a student leaves the system due to a scholarship.
Applications for the Education Freedom Scholarships increased significantly in the program’s second year. 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.
The bill goes to Lee for his signature.
