For starters, the proposal would bankrupt our state budget, dismantle public education, and erode our state’s ability to pay for essential public services, such as child care, roads, foster care and disaster relief. Look at Indiana and Arizona, red states with universal school vouchers. Arizona faced a $1.4 billion budget shortfall in 2024, and Indiana diverted nearly $1 billion from public school spending to private schools that educate less than 10% of their student population.
With book bans and restrictions on teaching about race, gender, and sexuality already in effect, vouchers make it ever harder to ensure culturally competent curriculums that affirm all children’s cultural identities. Instead, private schools can impose religious indoctrination and discriminatory practices without oversight.
Additionally, vouchers don’t guarantee higher academic achievement scores or educational support services. Tennessee’s own ESA pilot program data shows private schools underperforming compared to public schools.
Perhaps the most damning aspect of the Republicans’ proposal is that rural parents will foot the bill for children in Tennessee’s largest counties to attend private schools, while 51 of Tennessee’s 95 counties have no private school options. So much for “school choice.”
So, who does Lee’s voucher plan really benefit?
I don’t care what Governor Lee calls it − Education Freedom Scholarship Act, Education Savings Act, ESAs, or School Choice. It is welfare for the wealthy, an entitlement program for affluent families whose children already attend private schools.
Under the plan, Republicans are promising $7,075 vouchers for 20,000 students, with the first 10,000 reserved for families earning up to 300% of the federal poverty level (FPL) − that’s over $170,000 annually for a family of four. For context, the income limit for SNAP benefits (i.e., food stamps) is just 130% FPL. The remaining 10,000 vouchers would be available to any students, regardless of income or disabilities. News flash: Wealthy families get first dibs.
Read the full op-ed here.