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Tennessee
Tennessee school vouchers: Despite test score gains, recipients trail public school peers
Standardized test scores for students using Tennessee’s school vouchers have improved but continue to lag behind their peers statewide, according to data released by the state last week.
The state offers taxpayer-funded vouchers to help low-income families opt out of public schools and pay for private and parochial schools in Davidson, Hamilton and Shelby counties. The program was instituted in the 2022-23 school year for Davidson and Shelby counties after a drawn-out legal battle. Hamilton County was later added to the program. Its first batch of vouchers went out in 2023-24.
Overall, students using the vouchers trailed their peers statewide on English language arts and math scores on the state’s standardized Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program tests this spring. However, the students also made gains in both categories. Notably, students using vouchers in Shelby County matched their peers in math scores and surpassed them in English language arts scores this year.
Parent survey data was also included in the release and showed a 99% satisfaction rate in the 2023-24 school year with the state voucher program, compared to 91% in the previous school year. Additionally, the report showed participation in the program grew by leaps and bounds in 2023-24, with 2,088 students enrolled. That’s a 362% increase from the 452 students enrolled the previous year.
“This report shows families are satisfied with the educational opportunities afforded by the program, and we are encouraged by the academic performance of the students participating,” Tennessee Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds said in the release.
Tennessee to push voucher expansion again in 2025
After a failed push to expand the vouchers, which are offered through the Education Savings Account Program, to the entire state in 2024, Gov. Bill Lee and Republican lawmakers are trying again for an expansion in 2025. Lee dubbed the effort the Education Freedom Act.
“A quality education has the power to change the trajectory of a child’s life, and I’m pleased with the positive gains students are making through enrollment in Tennessee’s Education Savings Account Program,” Lee said in a news release from the Tennessee Department of Education. “It’s time to build upon this foundation of progress and deliver school choice for all Tennessee parents through the Education Freedom Act.”
Here’s a look at how the latest data breaks down for the state and all three counties where vouchers are available.
How ESA students performed vs. Tennessee peers
Across Tennessee, ESA students notched a gain of more than six percentage points in math scores and more than four percentage points in English language arts scores. The gaps between scores in both categories for ESA students and their peers also narrowed.
However, ESA students continued to perform markedly behind statewide scores, which also saw modest gains in each category.
Here’s how many students scored proficient in math and English language arts statewide in each group in 2024:
- Statewide math: 36.7%
- ESA students math: 17.6%
- Statewide English language arts: 39%
- ESA English language arts: 27.2%
The numbers, which were released Dec. 23, differ slightly from a previous Tennessean story based on preliminary data. That is likely due to the exclusion of data for schools with 10 or fewer student test scores for privacy purposes, along with an appeal and reconciliation process that may have been completed after the data was obtained by The Tennessean this summer.
How ESA students performed in Davidson County
Students in the ESA program in Davidson County and their peers across the county both made progress in math and English language arts scores.
English language arts scores remained relatively close between ESA students and their peers across Davidson County both years, with the gap between the sets of scores narrowing slightly. However, the gap widened between ESA students and the county when it came to math scores.
Here’s how many students scored proficient in math and English language arts in each group in 2024:
- Countywide math: 26.4%
- ESA students math: 15.7%
- Countywide English language arts: 30.5%
- ESA English language arts: 28.8%
How ESA students performed in Hamilton County
Since 2023-24 was the first school year vouchers were offered in Hamilton County, only one year of data is available. ESA students in the county performed far behind their peers in math and English language arts.
Here’s how many students scored proficient in math and English language arts in each group in 2024:
- Countywide math: 36.6%
- ESA students math: 18.1%
- Countywide English language arts: 39%
- ESA English language arts: 32.2%
How ESA students performed in Shelby County
ESA students made large strides in math scores from 2022-23 to 2023-24. The latest math scores match those of their peers across the county. Additionally, ESA students also made gains in their English language arts scores, surpassing countywide scores for the second year in a row.
Countywide scores also saw modest gains in both categories.
Here’s how many students scored proficient in math and English language arts in each group in 2024:
- Countywide math: 18.7%
- ESA students math: 18.7%
- Countywide English language arts: 23.7%
- ESA English language arts: 25.1%
ANTIOCH, Tenn. (WZTV) — Federal prosecutors say a Tennessee man spent months exchanging thousands of messages with a 14-year-old girl in rural Colombia before flying overseas to sexually exploit her in person.
Now, Ramon Arellano Sandoval, 64, of Antioch, has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, a federal jury convicted Arellano Sandoval in February 2026 of attempted sex trafficking of a minor and attempted production of child sexual abuse material.
Investigators said Arellano Sandoval communicated with the victim through thousands of text and video messages while knowing she was underage.
Prosecutors said he repeatedly requested sexually explicit videos from the girl and paid her electronically to produce the material.
Authorities said the communication eventually escalated beyond online contact. According to court records, Arellano Sandoval later traveled from the United States to Colombia, where prosecutors said he engaged in commercial sex acts with the minor victim.
U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II sentenced him to 360 months, or 30 years, in prison.
“Today’s 30-year sentence makes clear that distance is no shield from justice,” U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said in a statement. “If you use the internet, money, or international travel to prey on a child, we will find you, prosecute you, and seek the full measure of federal punishment.”
Arellano Sandoval was convicted of attempted sex trafficking of a minor and attempted production of visual depictions involving the sexual exploitation of a minor.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee’s legal fight against prediction market platform Kalshi is now heading to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, setting up for a growing national battle over whether sports event contracts are federally regulated financial products or simply sports betting dressed up.
The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office argues the answer is obvious.
If users are wagering on the outcome of sporting events, the state says it should fall under Tennessee’s sports gambling laws and not federal commodities regulation.
Gaming attorney and sports betting legal expert Daniel Wallach said the legal question goes far beyond whether the activity resembles gambling.
“If sporting events are what you are investing in or wagering on, that’s a straight-out sports bet,” Wallach said. “But the question in this case isn’t turning on whether it’s gambling, it’s whether the CFTC, the federal agency which oversees the commodities markets, was ever given exclusive jurisdiction to regulate sports gaming on commodities markets.”
At the center of the case is the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency that regulates commodities markets.
Tennessee argues Congress never intended for federal swap regulations created after the 2008 financial crisis to open the door to nationwide sports wagering products.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti framed it bluntly in court filings:
“Kalshi can call their bets ‘swaps’ all they want, but everyone who so much as glances at the platform understands that this is sports gambling.”
Wallach said Kalshi and the CFTC are relying on an extremely broad reading of federal commodities law.
“Congress never intended for CFTC to wield that kind of power and the premise that Kalshi and CFTC are relying on are based on the definition of what constitutes as a swap under the Commodity Exchange Act,” Wallach said. “That’s a very broad definition, which sweeps into it anything that has potential financial consequences.”
The courts, however, are no longer speaking with one voice.
A federal judge in New Jersey sided with Kalshi and allowed the contracts to continue operating there.
But in Ohio, a federal court raised serious questions about whether Congress ever clearly authorized the CFTC to regulate sports gambling products at all.
“The Ohio district court ruled the exact opposite way and said Congress did not clearly envision or authorize the CFTC to regulate sports gambling,” Wallach said.
Meanwhile, in Tennessee, a federal judge denied the state’s request for a preliminary injunction, meaning Kalshi can continue operating while appeals move forward.
The ruling did not decide the broader legal question permanently. Instead, it determined the state had not yet met the legal threshold required for emergency court intervention while the case proceeds.
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And as the litigation unfolds, the industry itself keeps expanding.
“There are over 20 CFTC designated exchanges and brokers that are offering sports events contracts in all 50 states… Kalshi, crypto.com, Coinbase, Robinhood,” Wallach said. “They’re everywhere.”
What began as a dispute over one platform is quickly evolving into something larger: Whether Congress unintentionally created a federal pathway around state sports betting laws.
Legal observers said when federal courts begin reaching different conclusions on the same issue, it can increase the chances of higher appellate review and potentially eventual review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) issued a #TNMostWanted alert for 18-year-old Dequarius Lax, from Jackson, Tennessee, who is wanted on multiple charges, including first-degree murder.
According to the TBI, Lax is wanted for First Degree Murder, First Degree Murder in Perpetration of a Crime, six counts of Attempted First-Degree Murder, six counts of Employing a Firearm with Intent to Go Armed, six counts of Aggravated Assault involving the use or display of a deadly weapon, Tampering with Evidence, and Reckless Endangerment involving a deadly weapon.
Investigators describe Lax as 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing approximately 110 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. TBI says he should be considered armed and dangerous.
Officials are asking anyone with information on Lax’s whereabouts to call 1-800-TBI-FIND.
The TBI is offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to his arrest. The United States Marshals Service is also offering up to $5,000, bringing the total possible reward to $7,500.
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