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Senate committee advances plan to double education‑freedom scholarships amid funding and data questions
Summary
Leader Johnson urged doubling Tennessee's education freedom scholarship program from 20,000 to 40,000 scholarships after 56,000 applications signaled heavy demand. Committee debate focused on budget impact, whether the automatic 5,000 increase from last year remains, and the lack of student‑outcome data; the bill was referred to Finance (7–2).
Leader Johnson presented SB 22‑47 to the Senate Education Committee, describing a demand surge for the newly launched Education Freedom Scholarship program and urging an increase in scholarships from 20,000 to 40,000.
"We created 20,000 scholarships...we had 56,000 applications," Leader Johnson said, arguing the expansion responds to constituent demand. Several senators raised fiscal and accountability concerns. Senator Hensley asked whether the bill simply bypassed an automatic 5,000 yearly increase included in last year’s law; Johnson replied the prior law would have moved the program from 20,000 to 25,000 but the present proposal increases it to 40,000. Hensley noted the recurring cost implications, saying, "This if this passes, it's gonna be 300,000,000 with what we passed last year, recurring money."
Other members pressed for performance data rather than application counts. Leader Ackberry said he was looking for outcomes on student achievement and comparative performance between private and public schools, not only demand. Johnson responded that parental satisfaction metrics were very high and that the program requires recipients use schools that administer recognized standardized tests, which would allow outcome comparisons in time.
After debate and an amendment vote, the committee voted 7 ayes to 2 nos to refer SB 22‑47 to the Finance Committee. The clerk recorded the tally and the bill was moved to Finance for consideration of funding and fiscal impacts.
What to watch: Finance Committee materials and the state's budget proposal for details of proposed recurring funding; sponsors indicated the governor included funding in his budget proposal, but Finance will evaluate affordability and long‑term fiscal exposure.
