Lee wants to end income cap for Education Savings Accounts

Vivian Jones, Nashville Tennessean

Wed, December 17, 2025 at 12:38 PM UTC

3 min read

Since proposing them in 2019, Gov. Bill Lee has always described Tennessee's Education Savings Accounts school voucher program as an empowerment tool for low-income families.

But now, Lee supports removing the income cap that keeps his three-county ESA program targeted at low- and middle-income families.

This year, the income cap for ESAs limits the program to those earning $81,120 for a family of four, slightly above the state median household income.

Tennessee’s new school choice voucher program, Education Freedom Scholarships, has a much higher income cap for half the slots, and no cap 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 without regard to income.

“I’m very supportive of the expansion of the ability for parents to decide what’s best for their kids,” Lee told reporters in Ashland City on Dec. 16.

“[Education Savings Accounts] can expand any number of ways,” Lee said, when asked about possible proposals coming in the 2026 legislative session.

Gov. Bill Lee answers questions from the press during his visit at Clarksville Christian School in Clarksville, Tenn., Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025.

Currently, the program offers scholarships of $9,800 to students in Davidson, Hamilton and Shelby counties who meet an income limit. Students must be entering kindergarten for the first time or must be moving from a public to a private school. 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. By law beginning 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 does not finish high school, and “low-income students deserve the same opportunities as other kids.”

“ESAs will enable low-income students from the most under-performing school districts to attend an independent school of their choice at no cost to their family,” Lee said in 2019.

Removing the income cap to let families of significantly higher income 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] have been a program that are primarily focused on low income families, and that will continue to be the case,” Lee said on Dec. 16.

Pressed on whether the target population would change if the income cap is removed, as 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. “It will still be a program that provides choices for low-income families.”

“We just need to provide more choices,” he added. “I’m supportive of the efforts to expand school choice across the state. Tennesseans are supportive of that.”

Earlier this year, Lee said he wants the legislature to fund more than the existing 20,000 Education Freedom Scholarships next year. He indicated on Dec. 16 that he’d like the program to double in size.

“There was an overwhelming demand for the Education Freedom Scholarships,” Lee said, referencing the 42,000 applications it received. “We should meet that demand if we can, and I think that’s what the legislature will take up.”

Vivian Jones covers state government and politics for The Tennessean. Reach her at vjones@tennessean.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Lee wants to end income cap for Education Savings Accounts

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