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BY GOV. BILL LEE

Education has the power to change the trajectory of a child’s life forever.

I saw this firsthand many years ago while mentoring a boy named Adam through an at-risk youth program.

Adam had a difficult home life and was attending a school that didn’t meet his unique educational needs. His grades and confidence were suffering, and his situation offered little hope for a bright future.

But that wasn’t the end of Adam’s story.

After working with his guardian to place Adam in a high-performing charter school, everything changed. Adam found the right educational fit where he could excel, and it transformed his life. 

My time spent with Adam profoundly shaped the way I view education. I witnessed the educational disparities across different incomes and zip codes, and I knew there were thousands of children like Adam who deserved better. 

Every child is unique. Every child has different learning styles. Every child has a different life situation. So shouldn’t every family – not just the wealthy – have the freedom to choose the right education for their child?

OVERWHELMING SUCCESS IN STATE’S SCHOOL CHOICE PILOT PROGRAM

That’s why, when I became governor, we made school choice a top priority, passing legislation for Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) in 2019.

Today, more than 3,500 students are enrolled in a participating school in Tennessee’s three largest counties. As enrollment numbers continue to rise, the ESA program has earned a 99% satisfaction rate among participating families.

Still, there are thousands of children across Tennessee just like Adam who may need a different learning environment to reach their full potential.

That’s what Tennessee’s Education Freedom Act is all about.

 

PUTTING PARENTS BACK IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT

When it comes to education, parents know best, and there’s a reason why school choice is sweeping the nation.

Now more than ever, parents are advocating for their right to decide what, where and how their child learns. To date, 33 states have adopted school choice measures that put parents in the driver’s seat of their child’s education.

Parental rights were on the ballot this November, with Americans – and Tennesseans – overwhelmingly supporting President Trump, who has long supported school choice.

It’s time that Tennessee students benefit from school choice, too.

The Education Freedom Act will empower parents in every Tennessee county with the freedom to pick the right school for their child, ensuring that families – not the government – can choose where their taxpayer dollars are spent.

Our universal school choice plan will ensure that school choice is a reality for every Tennessee child – regardless of zip code or income – by reserving the first 10,000 scholarships for underserved students.

 

INCREASING OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL

Opponents claim that school choice initiatives hurt public schools, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

The Education Freedom Act will continue our unwavering commitment to public schools by extending a $2,000 bonus to every Tennessee public school teacher, dedicating funds to build and maintain K-12 public school facilities, and ensuring that state funding to school districts will never decrease due to student disenrollment.

No public school district will lose resources as a result of the Education Freedom Act. In fact, they’ll get more.

Our total funding for public education since 2019 will reach at least $2.5 billion with the next state budget, and in partnership with the General Assembly, we will continue to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into public education and deliver on our promise to raise starting teacher pay to a record high.

The Volunteer State can have the best public schools in America and provide parents with more choices at the same time, and it starts with Tennessee’s Education Freedom Act.

In 2025, Tennessee has the opportunity to make education freedom a reality for every child, and that means a brighter future for all Tennesseans.

(Bill Lee is a second-term governor for Tennessee)