A group of public school students’ parents and taxpayers has filed a lawsuit challenging Tennessee’s new statewide school voucher program, saying that allocating nearly $150 million in state funding to help parents send their kids to private schools is unconstitutional.
In their lawsuit filed Thursday in Davidson County Chancery Court, the plaintiffs requested injunctions to block the Republican-backed law while the case proceeds.
Similar scholarship and voucher initiatives have proliferated in Republican-led states such as Texas, which passed a $1 billion program. States have increasingly offered vouchers to families beyond only the neediest ones, contributing to budget concerns as expenses rapidly pile up.
Although voucher programs have been around for years, they have exploded in popularity in Republican-led states. Some conservatives are critical of how public schools teach about race, sexuality and other subjects, and think they were too slow to reopen during the pandemic. Unlike at private schools, most public school teachers are unionized, and teachers unions generally back Democrats.
Tennessee’s voucher initiative allows 20,000 education vouchers of about $7,300 each for the 2025-26 school year. Half go to specific categories of students, such are those who are lower income or disabled. Any student entitled to attend a public school can apply for one of the remaining 10,000. Students who were already enrolled in private schools, including religious ones, are eligible.
