Sky Arnold 3/20/25 Sky Arnold 3/20/25

Senate Committee advances expansion of original Education Savings Account program, despite passage of the Education Freedom Scholarship Act

Senator Todd Gardenhire’s, R-Chattanooga, legislation would expand the Education Savings Account (ESA) pilot program implemented in 2022 to include students in Montgomery, Knox, and Rutherford Counties.

Sky Arnold 2/27/23 Sky Arnold 2/27/23

Senate passes legislation allowing public charter schools the ability to prioritize serving at-risk students

Tennessee State Senators gave their support Monday evening to legislation designed to help provide at-risk students with more accessibility to public charter schools.House Bill 1086/Senate Bill 0980 passed the full senate on a 26 to 5 vote.

Sky Arnold 2/24/23 Sky Arnold 2/24/23

Legislation to enable public charter schools to serve more economically disadvantaged and at-risk students faces key votes

House Bill 1086/Senate Bill 0980 faces key votes in the full Senate today and in the House Education Administration Committee on Wednesday.

Sky Arnold 2/15/23 Sky Arnold 2/15/23

Tennessee Senate approves adding Hamilton County to ESA/voucher program

The Tennessee Senate approved a bill to include Hamilton County in the state’s ESA voucher program. The bill now moves to the House for discussion.

Sky Arnold 12/8/22 Sky Arnold 12/8/22

Tennessee Education Savings Account law would expand to Hamilton County under bill

Tennessee’s private school voucher law, which now only affects districts and some students in Memphis and Nashville, would widen to include Hamilton County Schools under new legislation filed this week.Sen. Todd Gardenhire, a Chattanooga Republican, wants the legislature to expand the eligibility criteria for the education savings account program to include students in districts with at least five of the state’s lowest-performing schools, as identified in the last three “priority school” cycles since 2015.