Private school vouchers, already available in Hamilton County, may soon expand to the rest of Southeast Tennessee.
Roughly two weeks ago, Gov. Bill Lee announced a plan to push legislation next year that would expand Tennessee’s education savings account program, also known as private school vouchers, beyond Davidson, Shelby and Hamilton counties to all 95 of the state’s counties. His proposal would provide more than $7,000 to each participant to use to attend a private school.
While the voucher program expanded to Hamilton County this fall, Lee’s proposal could have implications for the thousands of students zoned for one of the region’s 18 other school districts whose parents or guardians want to send them to private school.
Excluding Hamilton County, there are 35 private schools in Southeast Tennessee, according to the Tennessee Department of Education. All but three are Christian, most are K-12 and about a third enroll 20 or fewer students. Tuition at many of those schools could be fully covered by Lee’s proposal.