Tennessee’s Voucher Program Lacks Transparency as Expansion Looms

Here’s what the data shows — and doesn’t show — at the start of the education freedom scholarship program.

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.

EdTrust-Tennessee believes public dollars should fund public schools exclusively. While we continue to monitor the state of vouchers and implications for students and public schools, these are the preliminary findings from the start of the EFS program.