Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee crested the country’s wave of voucher-like programs with the passage of his Education Freedom Act earlier this year.
It’s his signature achievement in the 2025 session of the Tennessee General Assembly, which gaveled to a close Tuesday.
Today, more than half of the 50 states have some voucher-like program.
Given the mammoth cost of supplying $7,300 scholarships for up to 20,000 students to use for private school tuition for the 2025-2026 school year, and then for as many people who want them in succeeding years, we hope we can look back from five- and 10-year vantage points and say what a forward-thinking, game-changing program the measure was.
Today, because of the lack of significant progress from the governor’s original Education Savings Account program, we’re wary. We also have concerns about the cost, the accountability and the damage to public schools if large numbers of families take advantage of the plan.