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Tennessee may soon relax state testing requirements for its Education Savings Account voucher program under new legislation that advanced in the House on Tuesday.
Private schools accepting public dollars under the ESA program have been required to administer the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, or TCAP, since the voucher program began in 2022.
Now, some Republicans want to drop that requirement through House Bill 1881, which would allow participating private schools the choice to give the TCAP or a “nationally standardized achievement test.” The move would align the ESA voucher program with the state’s broader Education Freedom Scholarships program, which lawmakers are currently trying to expand.
The bill passed out of the House Education Committee’s K-12 subcommittee on Tuesday on a party line vote. It now heads to the full committee. The legislation has already passed the Senate.
The legislation follows a Tennessee Comptroller report from last winter that found ESA recipients continue to trail their public school peers in academic achievement, with some exceptions in Memphis-Shelby County schools.
Republicans backing the bill argue the change is needed to align a school’s standardized test with its curriculum and textbook choices, which can vary widely in private school settings.
House Education Committee Chairman Mark White, a Republican from Memphis who is also on the K-12 subcommittee, said Tuesday he fought to mandate the state test for the ESA program when it began, and that he “can see both sides of the argument very clearly.” But White ultimately voted on Tuesday to advance the bill relaxing testing requirements.
White said the ESA program has some non-testing accountability measures baked in by only allowing Tier 1, 2, or 3 schools to participate in the program. These schools meet certain accreditation requirements approved by the state.
Democrats in the General Assembly, who lack the legislative power to stop the bill, have sharply criticized relaxing testing requirements.
Rep. Sam McKenzie, a Knoxville Democrat, noted the current ESA requirement is the one data point that provides a “side-by-side comparison” of student achievement for kids receiving a publicly funded education.
“We talk about kids needing a choice, we talk ad nauseum about parents needing a choice. Ok, you’ve been given a choice. Now, let’s test you. Let’s train you up in the private school environment and let’s test you,” Mckenzie said, arguing “being able to read on grade level is not different from a public school to private school.”
However, Rep. William Slater, a Republican from Gallatin who is sponsoring the House legislation, said lawmakers and state officials worked “very hard” to align the TCAP with public school standards and textbooks.
“When students are in a different school, a different system, the standards can be different,” Slater said. “The textbooks can be different. That’s what it means to be in a private school.”
Melissa Brown is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact Melissa at mbrown@chalkbeat.org.
