Senate Finance Advances Education Freedom Act with $145M–$148M in Scholarships, $2,000 Teacher Bonus

The Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee on Thursday recommended Senate Bill 6001, the Education Freedom Act of 2025, to the calendar after more than two hours of debate about funding sources, eligibility and local impacts.

Leader Senator Jack Johnson, sponsor of the measure, told the committee the bill creates three main elements: a facilities fund for local education agencies funded by 80% of sports-wagering privilege tax revenue; a one-time $2,000 teacher bonus for an estimated 86,000 recipients; and an education scholarship program authorizing 20,000 scholarships equal to the state portion of per-pupil funding.

The sponsor said the facilities fund is intended for capital and maintenance grants and that the fund would be funded by the sports-wagering privilege tax. He said the council’s projected amount for 2025–26 was “just over $77,000,000,” but the committee adopted language to protect lottery-funded programs; as amended the…