With Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas on its way, Tennessee families may have another reason to be joyous and thankful at next year’s holidays. With the recent reporting about a proposal for the state to offer education freedom to all Tennessee students, children and families could be thankful for new educational opportunities in 2025.
Education freedom policies would allow families to choose the best educational option for their child. Providing these opportunities to all students should be a priority for Tennessee legislators in the coming year and put parents back in the driver’s seat for their child’s education.
With polling earlier this year showing 68 percent of Tennesseans supporting universal education savings accounts and pro-education freedom candidates getting elected in Tennessee, families are signaling that they want universal education freedom. Families want to use their tax dollars for their child’s education, not dictated by a take it or leave it system, but by the parents who know their children best. Education freedom policies that provide parents with a portion of education funding can be seen in 33 states, and in limited geographic programs already taking place in Tennessee. But educational options shouldn’t be limited by where a child lives or offered only to a select few. Universal education freedom policies are what Tennessee policymakers should be looking at heading into 2025.
The proposal to offer educational freedom to every child who desires it is nothing new to states like Florida, Utah, and Arkansas, which are just a few of the more than double digit states that have passed universal education freedom legislation in recent years. Texas is now poised to pass similar policies for a universal program, and Tennessee should not be leapfrogged by yet another state when it comes to offering new educational opportunities for all students. But hopefully Tennessee will be followed by other states who listen to parents and recognize the value and possibilities that come with universal education freedom legislation, with one day every state offering the best education to every child.
Universal education freedom policies are popular in polling, in elected supportive candidates, and in the number of families who are using current programs. In Tennessee’s annual report on the existing ESA program, 99 percent of participants are in agreement that they are satisfied with the program. And with 163 of 188 empirical studies showing positive effects of educational freedom programs, the benefits from such policies are clear. Tennessee should give families and students another reason to be thankful and celebrate this time of year in 2025, with the ability to receive more educational options provided to them, no matter where they live in the Volunteer State.