Image: Senator Adam Lowe (middle), flanked by Aaron Gulbransen (left) & Senator Jack Johnson (right) Image Credit: @jadamlowe / X
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
The 114th General Assembly has convened and one lawmaker has decided that homeschool families need to be included in any voucher program that gets passed this year, something that many in the homeschool community vehemently oppose.
Senator Adam Lowe (R-Calhoun-District 1) has filed Senate Bill 0122 (SB0122) that would allow the state to oversee homeschool families that receive state funds.
Lawmakers who filed this session’s “school choice” bill appear to have taken into account the opposition that came from homeschool and private school quarters last year with homeschoolers having been expressly left out of the new proposal.
Homeschoolers have been raising concerns for more than a year about possible repercussions for the homeschool community if a voucher bill were to pass. The main concern is that families that accept education dollars from the state will then be subject to state oversight and this in turn could lead to unwelcome government regulation of all homeschooling families in the future.
Unlike last year’s warring bills from the House and Senate, this year’s set of companion bills are in alignment with one another.
Former District 4 Senator Jon Lundberg, who sponsored the senate bill last session, made it clear that his bill would make vouchers available to homeschool students, and a testing component would go along with those funds.
Lowe appears to have taken up Lundberg’s mantle by sponsoring a new bill that would amend the state’s homeschool law and allow “additional requirements and standards on a home school parent or student if the home school parent or student voluntarily elects to participate in a state program or applies for and receives state funds.”
Some in the homeschool community are concerned that not only will this apply to a future voucher system should homeschool families choose to participate but also a current program that allows homeschooled students to play sports at a public school for which they are zoned.
The Tennessee Conservative reached out to Lowe to ask if homeschooled students playing sports at a public school would be affected by his bill. We will update this article if we receive a response.
Lowe’s bill does not yet have a House sponsor.
In an X post, Tennessee Stands, who have been firm on their stance against any kind of entitlement program related to education, called the move to restrict the rights of homeschool families “shady.”
Last year, questions were raised by Senator Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald-District 28) regarding education funding for illegal immigrants, to which Lundberg affirmed that anyone allowed to attend a school in Tennessee – including an illegal alien – was eligible for school vouchers.
This year’s pair of bills, HB0001/SB0001, to enact the “Education Freedom Act of 2025” likewise contains language that does not outright prohibit illegal immigrant children from receiving a “scholarship.”
The bill states that an “eligible student” means a resident of this state who is entitled to attend a public school.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
