The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) announced the results of the inaugural year of the Tennessee Education Freedom Act last week, the Trump-endorsed school choice plan passed by lawmakers in January during the special legislative session called by Governor Bill Lee.
According to TDOE, the Volunteer State’s school choice program received 42,827 applications, more than double the 20,000 scholarships made available for distribution through the law. All 20,000 scholarships were distributed to students for the 2025-26 school year.
Students receiving the scholarships are located throughout Tennessee, as TDOE reported awarding scholarships to families in 86 of Tennessee’s 95 counties, meaning students benefited from the school choice plan across about 91 percent of the state.
The state department also stated the students attend 220 of the 241 schools eligible to receive a Tennessee Education Freedom Scholarship, indicating that 91 percent of eligible schools now have a student enrolled who benefits from the program.
Earlier this year, it was reported that the school choice plan received interest from nearly 40,000 families in the hours after applications became available.
“Thank you to all the families, schools, and partners who engaged throughout the launch and implementation of the program,” TDOE Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds stated in a press release. “I am thrilled with the success and demand demonstrated in the first year.”
Despite the school choice plan garnering the support of President Donald Trump in January, a small number of Tennessee Republicans opposed the legislation, claiming variously that it would not benefit their district or would balloon state spending levels.
One such lawmaker was State Representative Jody Barrett (R-Dickson), who told The Tennessee Star in April, “Unless President Trump can keep this from mushrooming to over $1 billion per year in a decade or less, I will not be able to support it,” and added, “I am representing my district.”
At least one private school in Dickson County, Tennessee, had opted into the school choice plan by April.
Polling conducted earlier this year found a majority of Tennesseans support expanding the school choice program, including 66 percent of Republican primary voters.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
A small drop in a huge bucket. But the thing that gripes me the most is that the public school losing a student to choice still gets compensated for that student in light of the fact that year-to-year school budgets cannot be reduced unless there has been a drastic reduction in enrollment. In simple terms that means that taxpayers are paying double the amount for school choice participants. That law MUST be changed – now!