Applications for school vouchers launch May 15
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tennessee Governor Bill Lee says applications for the state’s school vouchers program will launch next month.
On Thursday evening, Lee announced that the applications for the Education Freedom Scholarship will launch on May 15 at noon.
Signed into law in February, the controversial Education Freedom Act allows for taxpayer dollars to be used to fund enrollment in private schools. Families can apply for a $7,000 scholarship for their children to attend the private school of their choosing.
The funds will be administered by the Tennessee Department of Education.
There are 20,000 scholarships available for the 2025-2026 school year. The Tennessee Department of Education has released a “checklist” for requirements needed to apply.
The Education Freedom Act has faced significant pushback from lawmakers, educators, and local leaders across the state, with many stating that the program will divert money from struggling public schools.
“When you’re pulling all of that money from public education, and then that hurts us. It hurts, you know, us when we’re trying to build the infrastructure in schools,” said Dolores Rivers with the Memphis Shelby County Education Association.
Tennessee State Rep. Jesse Chism of Memphis said the private schools’ selectiveness could negatively impact neighborhood schools.
“It won’t be school choice for the parent. It’s school choice for the schools themselves, because if there’s only a certain amount of seats available, they’re only going to pick the valedictorians and the athletes,” Chism said. “So that leaves our other students at our neighborhood schools at a disadvantage, because if you take away the highest achievement students, that makes the median test score go down.”
About Post Author
