A three-judge panel has given the green light to Tennessee’s controversial Education Savings Account program. The decision came down after a lengthy court hearing Friday.
In May, the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld a 2019 law that gave families in Nashville and Memphis the ability to use public funds to finance private school tuition. Opponents, including the Metro government, filed for a temporary injunction.
Attorneys arguing against school vouchers told the judicial panel that the ESA rollout would cause immediate financial harm to Metro Schools and Shelby County Schools. They said the program was fundamentally flawed and should be delayed, if not stopped altogether.
But an attorney representing the program Brian Kelsey, who is also a former Republican state senator, argued that $29 million had been appropriated for the two school districts to cover potential loses.
“The statute has what we’ve described as a double-counting payment provision,” said Kelsey, “and so that counts every child who receives an ESA two times.”
For the rollout of the program, up to 5,000 families could each get about $8,000 in tax dollars in the first year. State education officials have said more than 2,000 families have applied thus far.
The case will be back in court in September.