In the 114th General Assembly, Tennessee lawmakers have filed two bills designed to challenge a constitutional and long-standing legal precedent that guarantees all children living in the United States access to free public school, regardless of documentation status.
On January 13, 2026, the 114th General Assembly will kick off its second and final year. Tennessee’s legislative sessions are two years long, and during the second year of each session, bills that have not failed, been withdrawn, or been passed are still alive and able to move through the committee process to a vote and enactment. Here are bills we are still watching with interest.
Earlier this month, Governor Lee and House Speaker Sexton expressed interest in doubling the number of students who can participate in the Education Freedom Scholarships (EFS) private school voucher program. The voucher program currently allows 20,000 students to receive vouchers and they want to increase that number to 40,000. This would far surpass the 5,000 seat annual increase included in the original legislation, thus further deterring investment in public schools.
Several bills passed last year that are set to take effect in classrooms throughout the 2025 school year and we’re keeping a close eye on how they’ll impact students, educators, and families.
As we reflect on the 2025 legislative session, the first year of the two-year 114th General Assembly, we want to uplift specific policies and budget priorities, aligned to our agenda, that advocates need to know about.
Before signing up, students and families deserve to know the real cost of vouchers and what’s at stake. Once public dollars leave our public schools, they don’t come back
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