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Tennessee bill to double private school tuition grants advances in House committee

Rep. Jody Barrett, R-Dickson, was among the Republicans who voted against an expansion of the private school tuition program during a committee meeting Tuesday. (Martin B. Cherry/Nashville Banner)
Rep. Jody Barrett, R-Dickson, was among the Republicans who voted against an expansion of the private school tuition program during a committee meeting Tuesday. (Martin B. Cherry/Nashville Banner) Rep. Jody Barrett, R-Dickson, was among the Republicans who voted against an expansion of the private school tuition program during a committee meeting Tuesday. (Martin B. Cherry/Nashville Banner)

By Lillian Avedian / Nashville Banner 5 min read

This story was originally published by the Nashville Banner. Sign up for their newsletter at nashvillebanner.com/newsletters.

On Tuesday, the House Education Committee voted 11-9 to move forward a bill that would double the size of the statewide private school tuition grant program in its second year.

At the start of the meeting, Chair Rep. Mark White, R-Memphis, announced that the committee had 50 bills on the calendar that day. It only got to two, as the committee debated the program for an hour. Disagreement among legislators was evident.

Five Republicans — Rep. Jody Barrett, R-Dickson; Rep. Kirk Haston, R-Lobelville; Rep. Chris Hurt, R-Halls; Rep. Renea Jones, R-Unicoi; and Rep. Kevin Raper, R-Cleveland — joined Democrats in voting against House Bill 2532/Senate Bill 2247, which would increase the number of “education freedom scholarships” from 20,000 to 40,000 for the 2026-27 academic year. Current law sets a limit of 5,000 new grants each year.

House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, and Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, have carried this bill, aligned with Gov. Bill Lee’s budget request for $300 million in public funds for private school tuition.