Tennessee

Gov. Bill Lee signs Tennessee private school voucher program into law, expanding access

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1 year ago

February 12, 2025

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Gov. Bill Lee signs Tennessee private school voucher program into law, expanding access

Gov. Bill Lee signed the school voucher program into law Wednesday after years of pushing for the program.
Lee would not commit to a competitive contract bid process for the voucher vendor that stands to make millions from the program.
Lee said the program would ‘change the future of Tennessee forever’.

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.”

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Tennessee

Memphis voters file federal lawsuit against new congressional map, claiming discrimination: ‘White control over Tennessee politics’

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4 hours ago

May 12, 2026

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Memphis voters file federal lawsuit against new congressional map, claiming discrimination: ‘White control over Tennessee politics’

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WSMV) – Three Memphis voters, through the American Civil Liberties Union, have filed a federal lawsuit against Tennessee leaders, claiming the state’s new congressional maps are discriminating against Black voters.

The ACLU announced the lawsuit on Monday, saying that three organizations — the Black Clergy Collaborative of Memphis, the Memphis A. Philip Randolph Institute and the Equity Alliance, are also part of the lawsuit that was filed against Sec. of State Tre Hargett, Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins and several others.

“In May 2026, over the course of mere days, a White-dominated supermajority of the Tennessee General Assembly redrew Tennessee’s congressional map to crack the predominantly Black city of Memphis into three pieces and destroy the only district in which Black voters are able to elect representatives of their choice, shutting Black voters completely out of power in federal elections in Tennessee,” the filing states.

The ACLU and the other plaintiffs echo arguments made by Democrats while the maps were being debated during last week’s special session: “The cracking of Memphis unlawfully targeted Black voters.”

“The new plan carves through the center of Tennessee’s second largest city, dividing neighborhoods that have voted together for decades, splitting numerous counties and precincts, and cutting the Black population into thirds with suspect precision,” the lawsuit says. “The districts then run hundreds of miles east towards the Nashville suburbs, snaking through predominantly White and rural counties to dilute the voting power of now-divided Black Memphians.”

Gov. Bill Lee signed the new congressional map into law last week. The new map splits Shelby County, home of Memphis, into three districts.

Republicans have said the map modernizes the districting process and removes “racial data from the mapmaking process entirely.” Democrats, on the other hand, say that the move is meant to dismantle the Black-majority district.

Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton (R) told WSMV that Republicans “have been very clear” on their intention to secure a ninth Republican seat in the state. He has said the map would help “ensure the state’s representation in Washington reflects its conservative values.”

The lawsuit draws significant attention to the racial makeup of Tennessee lawmakers, describing, “White control over Tennessee politics.” Plaintiffs allege that a white majority “faction” of state leaders “gave bizarre, robotic answers to the most basic questions about the map they were sponsoring.”

“None of the sponsors of the plan would admit who actually drew it, and the lead Senate sponsor—a White legislator with over a decade of service in the Tennessee General Assembly who had attended law school in Memphis — would not say whether Memphis was predominantly Black and claimed not to know that Congressional District 9 was a majority- Black district,” the filing says.

They seem to be referencing Sen. John Stevens (R-Huntingdon), who was asked during the special session if he was aware that the majority of the residents in the ninth district are Black.

“I’m not aware,” he responded. “I know how the map is divided, but I don’t know the racial makeup of the map.”

Stevens got his juris doctorate from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.

The three Memphis residents who took part in the lawsuit are Amber Sherman, a lifelong resident of Memphis and the lead Tennessee regional organizer for Black Voters Matter Fund, Rachael Spriggs, a Memphis resident for more than 20 years who is the director of Power Building for the Equity Alliance, and Kermit Moore, a nearly lifelong resident of Memphis who is the president of the Memphis A. Philip Randolph Institute.

The lawsuit claims intentional discrimination in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments, as well as retaliation for protected expression and association in violation of the First Amendment.

Plaintiffs are asking the court to declare that the newly drawn map is unconstitutional and restore district lines before primary elections proceed.

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Tennessee

New Tennessee law allows K9 officers to be transported by helicopter, ambulance to vet

Published

16 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Press Room

New Tennessee law allows K9 officers to be transported by helicopter, ambulance to vet

Tennessee State Senators Michele Reneau of Signal Mountain and Bo Watson of Hixson spoke today about the new law supporting police K-9’s.

The act allows injured dogs to get stabilization services on-site and then be transported via ambulance or helicopter to a vet hospital.

“In the past, officers were basically putting the k9 in their car and transporting them in their in their own vehicle, they didn’t have an ambulance or an air ambulance,” said Senator Watson. “This allows for an air ambulance. It also allows for a educational program for those in EMS, who will be taught how to manage canines emergency medical condition, which is different than a human’s.”

In April, Erlanger flew a K9 officer from Clay County, to North Carolina.

It was the first time the program was used for a live transport after several training runs.

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Tennessee

What You Need to Know About Tennessee Softball’s Path to Another WCWS | Rocky Top Insider

Published

1 day ago

May 11, 2026

Press Room

What You Need to Know About Tennessee Softball’s Path to Another WCWS | Rocky Top Insider

Tennessee softball’s path back to the Women’s College World Series is set. On Sunday night, the Lady Vols were named the No. 7 overall seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament and will host the regional stage in Knoxville as it looks to return to the WCWS in back-to-back seasons.

The Lady Vols are matched up with Virginia, Indiana and Northern Kentucky in the regionals. It would play Georgia, Clemson, UNC Greensboro or Charleston in the super regionals.

Ahead of the tournament, here’s a look at each team in the Knoxville Regional and potential matchups for the ensuing best-of-three super regional if Tennessee advances.