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A group of parents are suing Gov. Bill Lee and state education leaders over Tennessee’s new voucher law, alleging the program violates the state constitution by diverting public funds to private schools.
The lawsuit marks the first legal challenge to the Education Freedom Scholarship Act, a signature initiative pushed by Lee that provided $7,295 in public tax dollars to 20,000 students this fall. Lee and other Republican lawmakers hope to expand the program next year.
The lawsuit filed Thursday alleges the voucher program violates the Education Clause of the Tennessee Constitution, which gives the General Assembly a constitutional mandate to support and fund “a system of free public schools.” Diverting public funds away from this system violates the mandate, the lawsuit alleges.
“Tennessee’s Constitution is clear: the state must maintain and support a system of free public schools,” Lucas Cameron-Vaughn, senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Tennessee, said in a statement. “This voucher scheme does the opposite. It siphons desperately needed resources away from public schools that serve all students and hands that money to private schools with no accountability, no transparency, and no obligation to serve every child.”
Plaintiffs also argue the public school system is already chronically underfunded. They point to teacher shortages and educator feedback from a 2025 Tennessee Department of Education survey that found the majority of school district leaders say the state’s base funding level is inadequate.
Dustin Park, a Blount County parent whose child has Down syndrome, said the voucher program “fundamentally discriminates” against children with disabilities.
“Private schools can refuse to admit students like my son or fail to provide the accommodations he needs to succeed,” Park said, in contrast to Tennessee public schools that are required to accept all students.
Equitable access for students with disabilities has long been a major issue in the Tennessee voucher debate. The state Department of Education told Chalkbeat last month it was not tracking how many students with disabilities are benefiting from the voucher program, a transparency concern for disability rights advocates.
The lawsuit argues that because the voucher law allows private schools to deny enrollment to high-need students, “it will likely increase the concentration of higher need, more costly-to-educate students in public schools, which are already left with less money available to meet students’ educational needs.”
A Lee spokesperson said the governor is “confident” the court will uphold the program that a “vast majority” of Tennesseans support.
The ten parents who filed the lawsuit in Davidson County Chancery Court are backed by multiple legal and education organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Education Law Center.
The plaintiffs are seeking both permanent and preliminary injunctions against the voucher program. The state has not yet responded in court.
Shortly after the plaintiffs filed the lawsuit, the Department of Education announced it would open applications for next school year’s voucher program in January.
The Department of Education released important dates Thursday for families wanting to apply for the voucher for the 2026-27 school year.
Students currently enrolled in the program can begin the renewal process on Dec. 9, while new applications will open on Jan. 13.
A provision of the voucher law allows lawmakers to quickly expand the program by 5,000 seats during the 2026 legislative session, based on the number of applications the state received last summer. But Lee and other lawmakers want to go even further. House Speaker Cameron Sexton wants to at least double the program, which would cost the state more than $298 million to fund 40,000 seats.
Ahead of what is expected to be a tight budget year, the governor has not yet gone as far as backing Sexton’s proposal. But Lee has repeatedly said it is a top priority for him to expand the program beyond 5,000 new seats.
Melissa Brown is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact Melissa at mbrown@chalkbeat.org.
