Since proposing them in 2019, Gov. Bill Lee has consistently described the Tennessee Education Savings Accounts school voucher program as an empowerment tool for low-income families.
But now, Lee supports removing the income cap that would keep his three-county ESA program aimed at low- and middle-income families.
This year, the income limit for ESAs limits the program to those earning $81,120 for a family of four, just above the state’s median household income.
Tennessee’s new school choice voucher program, Freedom of Education Scholarships, has a much higher entry limit for half the slots, and no limit for 10,000 recipients. The state does not track or report family income brackets for those scholarship recipients, so the average family income for that program is unknown.
Lee says both programs should be expanded regardless of income.
“I’m very supportive of expanding the ability for parents to decide what’s best for their children,” Lee told reporters in Ashland City on Dec. 16.
“[Education Savings Accounts] it could expand any number of ways,” Lee said, when asked about possible proposals coming up in the 2026 legislative session.
Gov. Bill Lee answers questions from the press during his visit to Clarksville Christian School in Clarksville, Tenn., Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025.
Currently, the program offers $9,800 scholarships to students in Davidson, Hamilton and Shelby counties who meet an income threshold. Students must be entering kindergarten for the first time or must be moving from a public school to a private one. Participants are required to take the TCAP exam.
There are currently 4,794 students enrolled in the program, according to the Tennessee Department of Education. With the law starting next year, Tennessee can fund up to 15,000 Education Savings Accounts.
In 2019, Lee introduced the idea of Education Savings Accounts during his State of the State address by sharing that one in three students born into poverty do not finish high school, and “low-income students deserve the same opportunities as other children.”
“ESAs will allow low-income students from the lowest-performing school districts to attend an independent school of their choice at no cost to their family,” Lee said in 2019.
Removing the income threshold for families with significantly higher incomes to apply would fundamentally change the nature of the program.
Lee says the program will still be accessible to low-income families even without an income limit.
“[ESAs] they have been a program that is primarily focused on low-income families, and that will continue to be the case,” Lee said on December 16.
Pressed on whether the target population would change if the income cap were lifted, since even the highest income earners would be eligible, Lee reiterated that choices are important for everyone.
“Well, low-income families will still have access to that,” he said. “This will still be a program that provides options for low-income families.”
“We just need to provide more options,” he added. “I support efforts to expand school choice across the state. Tennesseans support that.”
Earlier this year, Lee said he wants the legislature to fund more than the 20,000 existing Freedom of Education Scholarships next year. On December 16, he indicated that he would like the program to double.
“There was a huge demand for the Freedom of Education Scholarship,” Lee said, referring to the 42,000 applications he received. “We should meet that demand if we can, and I think that’s what the legislature is going to take.”
Vivian Jones covers state government and politics for The Tennessean. Reach it above vjones@tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on the Nashville Tennessean: Lee wants to end income cap for Education Savings Accounts