Senate Bill 6001, known as the "Education Freedom Act of 2025," aims to enhance educational choice in Tennessee by establishing the Education Freedom Scholarship Program. This program will provide scholarships to eligible students, allowing them to attend private schools of their choice, with a maximum of 20,000 scholarships available for the 2025-2026 school year. The bill defines key terms such as "eligible student," "private school," and "scholarship," and mandates the Department of Education to administer the program. It outlines eligibility criteria based on household income and specifies allowable uses of scholarship funds, including tuition and educational services. The bill also emphasizes the autonomy of participating private schools and ensures that scholarship recipients cannot participate in other state education programs simultaneously.

In addition to the scholarship program, the bill includes provisions to support local education agencies (LEAs) and teachers. It mandates a one-time state-funded bonus of $2,000 for each K-12 public school teacher for the 2024-2025 school year and clarifies the distribution of privilege tax funds to ensure that 80% is allocated to the state treasurer for the construction and maintenance of public school buildings. The bill also defines "disenrollment" in relation to LEA membership and includes a severability clause to maintain the effectiveness of remaining provisions if any part is deemed invalid. The provisions related to the privilege tax will take effect on July 1, 2025, while other sections will become law upon enactment.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 49-3-108, 4-49-104(e)(1), 4-49-104