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Thursday, October 29, 2026Oct 29

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Free Press Opinion: About those Education Freedom Scholarship requests — some students could go unfulfilled

Contributed photo / Students are shown in class at Girls Preparatory School, where half of the students at the school are participating in the Education Freedom Scholarship program this year.
Contributed photo / Students are shown in class at Girls Preparatory School, where half of the students at the school are participating in the Education Freedom Scholarship program this year. Contributed photo / Students are shown in class at Girls Preparatory School, where half of the students at the school are participating in the Education Freedom Scholarship program this year.

We can imagine Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee in a conversation late last month with administration officials.

“Governor, do you want the good news or the bad news about your Education Freedom Scholarship program?”

“I’ll take the good news.”

“Of the families eligible to renew their scholarships, 99% want to do so, along with nearly 40,000 others who want a scholarship for the first time.”

“What’s the bad news?”