Tennessee
Gov. Bill Lee signs Tennessee private school voucher program into law, expanding access
Bill Lee shouts out DOGE, Democrats leave State of the State address
Gov. Bill Lee gave his annual State of the State address, touting his policy innovations and praising DOGE.
Gov. Bill Lee signed his long-awaited private school voucher program into law on Wednesday but would not commit to using a competitive bidding process for the vendor company that stands to make millions on the new program.
The Tennessee Department of Education previously drew bipartisan criticism for awarding the state’s contract to a vendor without a competitive bid for Lee’s first voucher initiative.
“I’ll defer to the department on the procurement process, one that makes sure that we have transparency,” Lee said on Wednesday.
Lee hopes to launch the $477 million program by the start of the 2025-2026 school year.
The short runway gives the state just months to contract with the vendor, hire new staff and implement rules for the program in time for families to apply for around $7,300 to pay for private school tuition.
“I have every confidence that we’ll be able to do that,” Lee said when asked if he was committeed to rolling out the program this year. “There are a lot of details to work out, but you’ve got to remember we already have an education savings account plan in place in this state for our three largest school districts, so we have some expertise within the department in how to implement this plan.”
In the program, 10,000 vouchers will be open to anyone to apply for. The other 10,000 are reserved for families with incomes below 300% of the income limit to qualify for free or reduced price lunch, about $170,000 for a family of four.
Under the new law, Tennessee can block undocumented students who are otherwise eligible from the program if they “cannot establish the eligible student’s lawful presence in the United States.”
The small clause received little attention as the voucher bill quickly passed last month, and there are no details in the legislation on how the department should confirm lawful presence. The clause raises constitutional questions about the bill, given longstanding federal legal precedent that blocks school districts from requiring proof of citizenship or legal residency.
The Tennessean has requested further information from the Department of Education regarding its plans to determine “lawful presence.”
“I think what’s most important to know is that this language doesn’t change anything about the state’s obligation, as it currently stands, to educating children,” Lee said. “But for this scholarhsip, it’s only available to Tennessee citizens.”
On Wednesday, Lee signed the bill into law flanked by Republican lawmakers and dozens of students from local private schools at the Capitol building in Nashville.
“I learned a long time ago that education changes the trajectory of a child’s life forever,” Lee said. “Today we put in place a piece of legislation that will change the future of Tennessee forever, because it changes the trajectory of the next generation of Tennessee.”
How Tennessee basketball made it back to third straight Elite Eight appearance
Tennessee basketball wanted to exploit Iowa State’s lack of depth in its 76-62 Men’s NCAA Tournament win
For the third straight season, Rick Barnes has Tennessee basketball in the Elite Eight. After Sunday, March 29’s game against No. 1 Michigan, he’s hoping to have taken the Vols where they’ve never been before.
Despite becoming a March Madness fixture, the Tennessee Vols have never, in their history, made the Final Four. Despite a pedigree of modest success, including 11 regular season SEC titles and and five conference tournament championships (most recently in 2022), Tennessee has not been able to cross the threshold to college basketball’s most coveted weekend.
The Barnes era marks the closest Tennessee has come, with consistency, even though its best shot arguably came before Barnes’ time. The Vols’ first Elite Eight trip was under Bruce Pearl in 2010, while Barnes was still roaming the Longhorns bench in Texas.
Barnes has taken Tennessee to the 2024, 2025, and 2026 Elite Eights. There’s an argument to be made 2026 is his most impressive run yet, as a No. 6 seed in the Midwest bracket.
The Vols went as a No. 2 seed in both 2024 and 2025, ultimately losing to the No. 1 seeds of their respective brackets in the Elite Eight. While it could be easy to think it will be more of the same Sunday against No. 1 Michigan, Tennessee has now taken down No. 3 Virginia and No. 2 Iowa State to get to this point. So perhaps one more upset is in store.
Has Tennessee basketball ever made a Final Four?
Tennessee has not made a Final Four in its history, making it one of five SEC schools to not get to the national semifinal round.
The others are Missouri, Mississippi, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt. Alabama basketball made its first Final Four in 2024.
Tennessee basketball Elite Eight record
The Vols are 0-4 in the Elite Eight, with losses in 2010, 2024, 2025, and 2026.
Here’s a look at their full history in the fourth full round of the tournament.
- 2010: No. 5 Michigan State 70, No. 6 Tennessee 69
- 2024: No. 1 Purdue 72, No. 2 Tennessee 66
- 2025: No. 1 Houston 69, No. 2 Tennessee 50
- 2026: TBD, vs. No. 1 Michigan
Rick Barnes Elite Eight record
Barnes is not just defined by his career at Tennessee. He does have a Final Four appearance, winning his first Elite Eight game with Texas in 2003. Since then, though, he is 0-4 in the Elite Eight, with two losses at both Texas and Tennessee.
Tennessee football and coach Josh Heupel picked up a commitment from Brentwood Academy four-star wide receiver Kesean Bowman on March 28 while he was visiting the school.
Bowman narrowed his list to Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Ohio State, Alabama and Miami on March 2. All five schools were among his top 10 he acknowledged on Oct. 30. Texas, LSU, USC, Texas A&M and Oregon were among the schools left off his list.
The 6-foot, 174-pound Bowman is ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the state for the 2027 class. He is the No. 6 wide receiver nationally, according to 247Sports Composite. He has more than 35 other offers. He decommitted from Oregon last September, more than two months after committing to the Ducks.
Bowman was a Division II-AAA Mr. Football semifinalist, who caught 49 passes for 665 yards and 11 TDs, during BA’s 2025 state runner-up season. He also had a rushing TD and was named the DII-AAA West Region Offensive MVP. He was named to The Tennessean’s 2025 All Midstate Large Class football team and is a Middle Tennessee Sports Awards offensive football player of the year nominee.
Bowman helped BA finish 11-1 in 2025, losing to Baylor in the DII-AAA state championship game.
Tennessee and Heupel have also offered Brentwood Academy offensive tackle Rance Brown, a 6-6, 290-pound lineman who transferred from Southside (Alabama). The Vols are pursuing BA junior four-star linebacker Kenneth Simon II as well.
Tyler Palmateer covers high school sports for The Tennessean. Have a story idea for Tyler? Reach him at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, @tpalmateer83.
He also contributes to The Tennessean’s high school sports newsletter, The Bootleg. Subscribe to The Bootleg here.
The Tennessee Titans have made some improvements throughout the offseason and appear better positioned heading into the draft than they were in 2024, with added depth on both sides of the ball.
Yet, even with the added talent, they still have multiple needs they must continue to address to help both now and in the future, and another solid draft would go a long way in finding a sustainable path forward. Gilberto Manzano of Sports Illustrated looked at the roster and saw some of the same things as he broke down their remaining needs heading into the draft.
Tennessee Titans
Draft needs: RB, WR, edge, S
The running back duo of Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears hasn’t been a productive one. Cam Ward desperately needs a game-changer at one of the skill positions. Newcomer wideout Wan’Dale Robinson doesn’t exactly fit that bill, but he’ll make life easier for the second-year quarterback.
With Robert Saleh now the head coach in Tennessee, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Titans used the No. 4 pick on one of the top edge rushers.
There is no doubt that the Titans should add some playmakers in this draft class, and they shouldn’t bank on hitting a dynamic playmaker in the fourth round again. Tennessee could definitely use a premium pick on at least one or possibly two offensive weapons.
Tennessee also must invest in the interior of the offensive line to help Cam Ward and the offense. While it’s true that Pollard and Spears did not blow the doors off the running game, they were also hampered by subpar play along the offensive line for the past two seasons, after line guru Bill Callahan failed to transform the Titans’ line into a consistent unit. It wasn’t until after he and his son Brian Callahan left that the play-calling for the running game took off.
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