The first-year Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) test results from Hamilton County students who received state Education Savings Account (ESA) money to attend private schools tell us we have been correct in suggesting the state continue the program as a pilot and not expand it across the state.
The Hamilton County results from the 2023-2024 school year show that students who attended private schools with state ESA money fared worse on TCAP tests — more than 6% worse in reading and more than 18% in math for scores available — than those in public schools.
However, during the 2024 legislative session, Gov. Bill Lee proposed the state move to a slightly different Education Freedom Scholarship program, which would expand statewide after the first year. It did not pass the legislature this year, but the governor says he will bring it up again in 2025.
With local students, who received the ESA money for the first time for the 2023-2024 school year, we believe those first-year scores should be a baseline. If their scores don’t improve year over year, for whatever length of time the ESA pilot program continues, the program won’t be judged a success.
While it’s important to note that the first-year Hamilton County ESA students scored at a proficiency rate below their public school counterparts this year, what they should be judged on going forward is how they do versus their previous scores. Their parents may have chosen to send them to a private school because their grades already were lower than their fellow public school students, and they hoped a different environment might improve their children going forward.