Memphis Local, Sports, Business & Food News | Daily Memphian | Melissa Brown

Tennessee to expand voucher program to 35,000 students in second year

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 14:07:24 -0500

Gov. Bill Lee and other Republicans are pointing to interest in the program, which will give more than $7,500 per child for private school tuition and certain educational costs.

Tennessee House passes voucher expansion plan in tight vote

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 20:24:24 -0500

House Bill 2532 met with bipartisan opposition, barely clearing the majority vote needed to pass.

Will TN voucher program expand by 15,000 or 20,000 seats? House and Senate are at odds on details.

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Tue, 7 Apr 2026 20:58:13 -0500

House Republicans dropped the immigrant tracking provision of the expansion bill, which is poised for final votes within days.

Tennessee elementary schools might limit classroom digital device use under pending law

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Sun, 5 Apr 2026 04:00:00 -0500

Tennessee schools could limit digital access to K-5 students under pending law.

House Republicans tie immigrant student tracking to Tennessee voucher expansion bill

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Thu, 2 Apr 2026 08:49:51 -0500

Tennessee House Republicans have inserted a student immigration tracking requirement into a pending voucher program expansion bill, linking two of the most controversial policies affecting state public schools in recent years.

Will Tennessee's effort to track undocumented students die in the legislature?

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Sun, 29 Mar 2026 04:00:14 -0500

After more than a year of back-and-forth on a controversial proposal to track the immigration status of Tennessee students, two dueling versions of the bill have stalled in the General Assembly.

Ahead of Memphis schools takeover, Republicans move to block district’s legal pushback

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 16:57:42 -0500

Two Memphis Republicans are backing legislation to block Tennessee school districts from funding lawsuits that oppose accountability measures like state interventions.

Tennessee GOP advances bill to relax voucher testing rules for private schools

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 07:14:36 -0500

Schools that participate in the voucher program could choose to give students a different test than the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, or TCAP.

Tennessee House passes bill to track undocumented students in public schools

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 21:33:19 -0500

Tennessee educators and immigration advocates oppose the student immigration bill, criticizing the additional logistical burden schools could face and data privacy concerns in a state pushing increasingly hardline immigration policies.

GOP push to expand Tennessee voucher program to 40K students clears first hurdle

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 19:49:32 -0500

Tennessee would spend around $303 million next school year to fund private school tuition costs for 40,000 students if Gov. Bill Lee’s proposal is successful.

Tennessee would be required to use federal funding to feed low-income students under new bill

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Mon, 9 Mar 2026 19:14:02 -0500

Gov. Bill Lee has declined federal funding to help feed low-income students over the summer. A bipartisan group of lawmakers wants to change that.

Tennessee GOP effort to track K-12 student immigration status advances

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Thu, 5 Mar 2026 19:38:19 -0600

Tennessee Republicans continue to advance legislation that would require public schools track and report the immigration status of their students despite heated pushback from local educators.

Tennessee private school teachers without a degree could get emergency teaching permits under new bill

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 04:00:01 -0600

A new bill would allow some Tennessee private school teachers to get an emergency teaching waiver to teach at a public school without a bachelor’s degree.

Trigger bill would require Tennessee schools to track, report student immigration status

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 04:00:14 -0600

House Bill 1711 is the second piece of legislation currently in the Tennessee General Assembly that could require educators to report the legal status of public school students.

Tennessee House passes bill allowing Ten Commandments displays in schools

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 11:20:12 -0600

Tennessee House Republicans on Thursday approved a bill allowing, though not requiring, public schools to display the Ten Commandments.

Tennessee GOP says ongoing Memphis schools audit is ‘concerning'

bhatch@chalkbeat.org (Bri Hatch) — Thu, 5 Feb 2026 16:10:47 -0600

The district says state auditors haven’t presented any evidence of fraud or abuse to constitute further investment. Republican lawmakers didn’t name specifics either.

Gov. Bill Lee wants $155 million to fund 20,000 new vouchers

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Mon, 2 Feb 2026 19:46:12 -0600

If Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee achieves his goal, Tennessee would spend more than $303 million in public dollars on vouchers next fiscal year to help send 40,000 students to private schools across the state.

Tennessee GOP wants to make K-12 students verify their immigration status

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 04:00:00 -0600

Republican leadership did not say whether local schools or the Tennessee Department of Education would be responsible for verifying immigration status or where such data would be held.

Most Tennessee students don’t use vouchers to exit low-performing public schools: comptroller

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Tue, 6 Jan 2026 04:00:02 -0600

The Education Savings Account voucher program was a signature issue for Gov. Bill Lee, who has supported additional school choice policies as a way for parents to choose higher-achieving schools.

Is Tennessee’s ban on religious charter schools unconstitutional? Attorney General says likely.

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Mon, 5 Jan 2026 12:14:31 -0600

The state law banning religious charters has not yet been legally challenged, nor has any lawmaker proposed legislation to amend the current law.