Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s proposal to allow families to use taxpayer dollars to attend private school is broadly popular according to a new poll by conservative think tank the Beacon Center.The organization polled 1,302 registered Tennessee voters last month about Governor Lee’s proposed Education Freedom Scholarship Act asking:Under Tennessee’s existing Education Savings Account (ESA) program, families of eligible K-12 students can use a portion of their per-pupil funding on certain educational expenses such as private school tuition, tutoring, educational therapy, or other educational purposes. These ESAs are available to families in Memphis, Nashville, and Chattanooga. Gov. Bill Lee has proposed an Education Freedom Scholarship Act to give the same options to all Tennessee families. Would you support or oppose expanding educational choice statewide?The Beacon poll found 68 percent of polled Tennesseans support the Governor’s plan, while 19 percent oppose it.¶
The Governor’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act is expected to be one of the more hotly contested pieces of legislation when lawmakers return to Nashville next week for the upcoming legislative session. The Beacon Center found a majority of voters polled would be more likely to vote for their state legislator if they support the act.¶
The Beacon Center’s poll has an estimated margin of error of +/- 2.66 percent. The 1302 respondents included 560 Tennesseans who identified as Republicans and 312 identifying as Democrats. The Education Freedom Scholarship Act was more popular with Republicans, with 85 percent supporting the plan compared to 56 percent of Democrats identifying support.Governor Lee unveiled the Education Freedom Scholarship Act in November as an expansion of the framework of the existing Education Savings Act. Under the plan, Tennessee would offer 20,000 scholarships next school year on a rolling first-come, first-served basis to help Tennessee families send their children to private school.The scholarships would provide families with $7,075 to cover private school tuition, fees, uniforms, textbooks, computers, and transportation. Half would go to economically disadvantaged students, disabled students, or those eligible for the existing ESA pilot program. The remaining 10 thousand scholarships would go to any Tennessee student.
Legislature Approval Drops¶
The Beacon Center poll also found a 4 percent drop in support for the Tennessee General Assembly from its poll last July.Legislators have a 38 percent approval rate in the poll, down from 42 percent last July. Approval is higher for Republicans (57 percent) than Democrats (22 percent).¶
