By a vote of 20 to 13, the Tennessee Senate reportedly approved the Education Freedom Act of 2025 during a special session of the legislature on Thursday. Earlier in the day, the bill was approved by the House 54 to 44.
Tennessee will become the thirteenth state in the country to implement universal (or almost universal) school choice with the stroke of Governor Bill Lee’s pen.
A $447 million statewide publicly funded school voucher program was finally approved by Republican lawmakers on Thursday.
This was a long-awaited win for Governor Bill Lee and numerous proponents of school choice who have spent millions promoting the proposal.
After just over 90 minutes of debate, the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 20 to 13.
After more than four hours of debate on Thursday, members of the House passed the bill against bipartisan opposition by a vote of 54 to 44, with one member abstaining.
Tennessee students, including those enrolled in public schools and those already attending private institutions throughout the state, will be eligible to receive 20,000 scholarships totaling approximately $7,300 under the new taxpayer-funded Education Freedom Scholarship program.
At first, there would be income criteria for half of the places.
Additionally, it provides one-time bonuses of $2,000 for every public school teacher in the state, ensures that school districts will not face a reduction in state TISA budget allocations, and allocates monies for school building and upkeep.
The bill is now headed to Governor Bill Lee’s desk, where he is anticipated to sign it into law as one of his top legislative priorities.
As soon as he signs it, it will go into effect, enabling the Tennessee Department of Education to start implementing it right away.
The goal is to have it operational by the 2025–2026 academic year.
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