Poll shows widespread support for expanding charter schools, private school vouchers

A graphic from the Beacon Center shows Tennesseans’ support for school choice initiatives and overall satisfaction with the state’s K-12 pubic education system.

A new statewide poll from the Beacon Center of Tennessee indicates that 61 percent of Tennesseans support expanding public charter schools statewide, with only 14 percent expressing opposition.

According to the study, which polled more than 1,200 Tennessee voters about public policy positions, nearly 70 percent of Republican voters said they would support such an expansion, while 53 percent of Democrats and 56 percent of independents expressed support.

The poll also found Tennesseans are generally supportive of other efforts to expand school choice statewide, noting that 67 percent of voters support Governor Bill Lee’s plan to expand private school vouchers for all families across Tennessee, while only 13 percent expressed opposition. The poll showed strong support among Republicans, with 73 percent in favor of the legislation, while 51 percent of Democrats expressed some support for the legislation. Seventy-one percent of independent voters also indicated their support for the plan. 

Overall, the poll found that 40 percent of Tennesseans are satisfied with the K-12 public education system, while 54 percent are dissatisfied.

“As the 2025 legislative session quickly approaches, education is the most contentious issue on the docket. However, voters are relatively uniform in their views,” a Beacon blog post about the results said. 

Aside from gauging Tennesseans’ education policy positions, the poll noted that Tennesseans have varied opinions on presidential election results. When asked to choose the reasons former President Donald Trump won last November’s election, Tennessee voters said they believed the biggest factors were his focus on economic issues like inflation and jobs (56 percent), immigration policies (53 percent), and discontent with the previous administration’s performance (51 percent). 

When asked why Vice President Kamala Harris lost the presidential election, the top reasons given were that she was too closely associated with the Biden administration (58 percent) and the perception that she was not qualified for the presidency (52 percent). Most Tennesseans said they believed Kamala Harris performed as well (37 percent) or better (34 percent) against Trump than President Joe Biden would have if he had stayed in the race. Only 16 percent of Tennesseans believe Biden would have fared better than Harris.

For more Beacon Poll results, visit www.beacontn.org.