Tennessee homeschooler testifies against their inclusion in expansion of the state’s Education Savings Account program at a General Assembly committee hearing.
By Eileen Griffin
As Tennessee lawmakers work toward expanding the state’s Education Savings Accounts (ESA) program, some homeschool parents are requesting to be excluded.
State lawmakers are pushing through two separate bills with some differences, but the main goal is expanding educational freedom and school choice options for all families, The Tennessean reports.
A significant debate point between the House version and the Senate version is whether homeschool children will be included in the voucher program.
The House version, HB 1183, excludes homeschool students from the voucher program completely. Any student who is registered as attending a homeschool would not be eligible for financial support through the state.
The Senate version, SB 503, similarly excludes homeschool students with an exception for homeschools that are within a church. If the final bill is the Senate version, a church-run homeschool could be considered a private school and those students would then be eligible for vouchers.
“In the state of Tennessee, the majority of homeschools are registered under category 4 schools which makes them fall into that private school category.” Tiffany Boyd, Founder of Free Your Children and a homeschool advocate, said at a February 27th House committee meeting.
Boyd spoke against HB 1183. “Homeschoolers were told that they would be written out of the bill. They were not. The public was told this bill would not come with strings. It does.”
“We know and understand that what the government funds, it runs,” Boyd said. “We know and understand school choice initiatives lead to increased government overreach as witnessed in other states.”
Boyd also told the committee that the bill was vague and could be interpreted or amended to impact the functioning of homeschools. With the majority of homeschools coming under category 4 considered private schools, students would be eligible for vouchers. With vouchers would come government mandates, says Boyd.
“We know that the state of Tennessee is not adequately educating public school students,” Boyd said. “Since you have not been successful educating our state’s public-school students, why then would taxpayers want the state controlling private education? There is no choice when all choices are government controlled.”
Boyd says that Tennessee already has school choice, and parents have many options.
Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed the Education Freedom Scholarship Act, at the end of 2023. Starting with the 2024-25 school year, 20,000 scholarships will be made available to Tennessee students. Scholarships will be awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis for the initial school year, and the funds deposited in an ESA for the student.
The priority for the 2024-25 school year will be, “Tennessee students who are at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty level, have a disability, or are eligible for the existing ESA pilot program.”
Lee’s goal for 2025-26 is universal eligibility, but priority would still go to lower income families.
“A high-quality education has the power to change the trajectory of a child’s life, and there’s no question that now is the time to make school choice a reality for every Tennessee family,” Lee said.
“Tennessee’s Education Freedom Scholarships will empower parents with the freedom to choose the right education for their child, while also giving them a say in how their taxpayer dollars are invested.”
The Tennessee Home Education Association opposes ESAs because of the government involvement they say would follow financial support. State mandatory testing may become required in homeschools if students are provided with vouchers.
“We are not broken,” Boyd said. “We do not want government money. We want the government out of our homes.”
If the two versions of the bill cannot be reconciled, the bill could go to a conference committee. From there, a final version will eventually be presented to the governor.
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