House Advances Smaller Expansion of the Education Freedom Scholarship
Governor Lee announcing the Education Freedom Scholarship in 2023. (Photo by Sky Arnold)
Members of the Tennessee House are advancing legislation that would provide a smaller expansion of the Education Freedom Scholarship program than their Senate counterparts.
The House Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee amended House Bill 2532 on Wednesday to include 5,000 fewer scholarships and multiple provisions that aren’t in its counterpart, Senate Bill 2247.
The current program allows 20,000 students to use taxpayer dollars for private school expenses. Supporters say expansion is needed because the program has reached its 20,000-scholarship capacity for two consecutive years.
New House Proposal
The amended legislation reduces the expansion of scholarships from 20,000 to 15,000. Representative Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, said the amendment also includes other changes to tidy up details in the bill.
“This amendment simply is a modification of last year's EFS (Education Freedom Scholarship) and a revision of the administration bill as it relates to that,” Williams said. “This bill will modify the floor and create transparency as it relates to those currently being funded in our TISA school systems. It will also set aside, for lack of better terms, a pecking order for the (recipients) of those scholarships going forward.”
The amendment carries other changes that weren’t discussed in the subcommittee meeting, such as a new requirement for the Tennessee Department of Education to report participants’ previous school enrollments and income brackets, recording students’ immigration status, and collecting proof that they are U.S. citizens or are in the process of obtaining citizenship through legal proceedings.
It also includes provisions for the department to annually report a variety of information to the House and Senate, including the number of applications from each county and the number of applicants whose household income is below 100 percent of the federal free or reduced-price school lunch eligibility threshold.
What’s Next
Wednesday’s 9-3 vote advances the House’s amended bill to the full Finance, Ways, and Means Committee for a vote next week.
The Senate version of the bill currently includes the original 20,000 scholarship expansion, and it advanced out of committee earlier this week. It remains to be seen if Senators will support the House changes.
Bi-Partisan Opposition
The bill has faced opposition from both sides of the aisle due to concerns about its fiscal impact, which is estimated to cost $155 million for the next school year and will gradually increase each year beyond that.
Two House Republicans voted against the expansion during Wednesday’s vote, and two Senate Republicans did the same on Tuesday.
