(The Center Square) – A new poll released Monday by The Beacon Center shows 56% of Tennesseans support expanding Education Freedom Scholarships.
Thirty-two percent of Republicans and 26% of Democrats strongly agreed the program should grow past the 20,000 students awarded scholarships in the first year, according to the poll. More than 40,000 students applied.
“The most interesting part of the school choice question actually came from Democratic respondents,” said Beacon’s Senior Fellow for Public Opinion Mark Cunningham. “Despite no votes from any Democratic member of the Legislature, 52% of Democrats would like to see the cap lifted so that all eligible families can use Education Freedom Scholarships.”
Gov. Bill Lee called Tennessee lawmakers into a special session in January to vote on school choice. The budget for the program is $144 million.
The Senate Democratic Caucus labeled the law one of the state’s 11 worst in 2025.
“Despite claims of ‘universal access,’ the truth is the majority of vouchers will go to families already enrolled in private schools, families who are more likely to be wealthy,” a spokesman for the caucus said. “This is a massive, taxpayer-funded subsidy for private school families – while public schools, teachers, and students are left behind.”
The bill was opposed by seven Senate Republicans and 20 Republican House members.
Respondents also supported a Tennessee law that bans puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors. Sixty-five percent of those surveyed strongly or somewhat approved and 26% disapproved. More Republicans, 80%, said they supported the law than Democrats, 31%, while nearly 20% of independent voters supported it.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Tennessee law 6-3 in an opinion released in June. President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for a nationwide ban on federal funding for sex change treatment for minors.
State attorneys general are split on the executive order. Last week, 25 states filed a legal brief supporting Trump while 20 states are challenging it.
