Southern Poverty Law Center, ACLU attack Tennessee’s universal school choice program

Tennessee’s brand-new universal school choice program faces a lawsuit from the radical left, despite being hugely popular among families.

The lawsuit, filed Nov. 20, is brought by the ACLU of Tennessee and the Southern Poverty Law Center. It argues the new Education Freedom Scholarship (EFS) program violates the state constitution by diverting funds away from K-12 public schools.

Gov. Bill Lee approved the program in February. It offers scholarships of around $7,000 to cover tuition or other educational expenses, and prioritizes low-income families.

Upon EFS’ launch in May, Tennessee’s Department of Education received over 33,000 applications just a few hours after going live. When the application window closed, over 42,000 families had applied, though the program only budgeted for 20,000 scholarships.

Lee is now encouraging the Legislature to approve more scholarship funding in 2026. 

“The only thing I’m not happy with is that we don’t have more scholarships to give to more income-limited, low-income families and to families that aren’t limited in their income,” Lee told local media in October. 

In spite of its growth, the EFS program is facing a legal challenge from left-wing groups.  

“Tennessee’s Constitution is clear: the state must maintain and support a system of free public schools. This voucher scheme does the opposite,” said ACLU attorney Lucas Cameron-Vaughn. “It siphons desperately needed resources away from public schools that serve all students and hands that money to private schools with no accountability, no transparency, and no obligation to serve every child.” 

Like most school choice programs, EFS doesn’t hold participating private schools to the same academic and accountability standards as public schools. For example, private schools can still set their own admission standards and decide which learning disabilities they can accommodate. 

Opponents of school choice argue that’s discriminatory. 

“They call this ‘school choice,’ but the choice isn’t yours, it’s the private school’s,” said one plaintiff, who is a teacher. “They can reject your child for a disability, for your family’s religion, for any reason at all. Meanwhile, public schools that educate everyone are losing the funding they need.” 

However, school choice advocates say students and families are better off with education freedom. 

“Tennessee’s EFS law vindicates parents’ constitutional rights to direct their children’s education. We intend to ensure that right is not stripped away in the courtroom by political opponents,” said EdChoice’s Director of Litigation Thomas Fisher. 

EdChoice joined several Tennessee parents in filing a motion to intervene on Nov. 26. 

“Behind every legal filing are real children whose futures hang in the balance. This lawsuit threatens to take choices away from families who have done everything right – families who simply want to place their children in the learning environments where they can thrive,” Fisher added. 

New polling reveals Tennesseans broadly support the state’s universal school choice program. Over 50% would even support removing the funding cap altogether.