Lee renews push for expanded school choice, $340 million K-12 boost in State of the State
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Summary
In his State of the State, Governor Bill Lee proposed a $340 million addition to K-12 funding, highlighted a $2.5 billion prior investment in public schools, and urged expansion of the Education Freedom Scholarship program that has more applicants than available slots.
NASHVILLE — Governor Bill Lee on Saturday called for increased funding for K-12 education and a major expansion of Tennessee’s Education Freedom Scholarship program, telling the General Assembly his proposals aim to widen options for families and raise teacher pay.
"We are proposing in the budget an additional $340,000,000 directed to our public schools," Lee said, adding that the state previously made a historic investment of $2,500,000,000 in public education described in his address as a roughly 50 percent increase. He also said starting teacher pay, which he cited as $35,000 in 2019, will be $50,000 by 2027 under enacted measures.
Lee highlighted early literacy as a priority, saying Tennessee’s kindergarten-through-third-grade literacy strategy produced gains in reading and math. He cited the Education Freedom Scholarship program as an example of expanding parental choice: "Last year, more than 40,000 applications. This year, 54,000 applications for 20,000 spots," he said, noting an estimated 34,000 applicants remain unserved.
The governor invited Dr. Milton Nettles and students from Lighthouse Christian School to the chamber to illustrate how scholarships have affected individual schools and families. Lee urged lawmakers to "double the amount of scholarships this year for Tennessee students," framing the change as opening opportunities for thousands more children.
Why it matters: Lee framed these proposals as both a continuation of long-term investments and a way to address current wait lists for the scholarship program, while also tying teacher-pay increases and early literacy work to broader workforce and economic goals.
What’s next: Lee’s budget requests will go to the General Assembly for consideration in committee, where lawmakers will weigh competing priorities and fiscal constraints. The governor did not propose specific statutory language for expanding the scholarship program in his remarks.
Sources and limits: All figures and program names in this article are taken from Lee’s State of the State speech; where he supplied application counts and proposed budget amounts, those numbers are reported as he stated them.
