Governor Bill Lee (R) recently signed legislation that greatly expands school voucher access throughout The Volunteer State by allowing low-income families to use their taxpayer dollars on private schools.
Possibly by the start of the 2025-2026 school year, 10,000 vouchers will be open to anyone to apply for. The other 10,000 are reserved for families with incomes below 300% of the income limit to qualify for free or reduced price lunch, about $170,000 for a family of four.
Under the new law, Tennessee can block undocumented students who are otherwise eligible from the program if they "cannot establish the eligible student's lawful presence in the United States."
Ira Mehlman, media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), says Republican leaders took steps to ensure that illegal aliens would be prohibited from participating in the $447 million initiative.
"Under the standing Supreme Court order Plyler v. Doe, [states] have to provide public education, but they don't need to go to any extra steps beyond that," Mehlman explains.
That class action lawsuit was filed by school-age children of Mexican origin who could not prove they were legally admitted to the United States. Ruling 5-4 that denying undocumented children an education harms society as a whole and that the savings from excluding them would not necessarily improve education quality, the 1982 case overturned a Texas law that prohibited using state funds to educate undocumented children.
"In light of updated facts," the FAIR spokesman says "a lot of what is going on is an attempt to get Plyler back before the courts. It is impacting not just taxpayers, but the ability of other kids to get the education that they deserve."
Tennessee Republicans have also introduced a separate proposal that would allow local school districts and charter schools to opt out of enrolling a child who is "unlawfully present" in the country.
According to FAIR, an estimated 120,000 illegal immigrants live in Tennessee, costing the state's taxpayers $497 million annually.
