The FREE Act would put Tennessee parents in charge, expanding homeschooling freedom

A new era of school choice is upon us, and it could mean greater freedom for homeschooling parents too.

“Parents want and deserve the best education for their children,” wrote President Trump in his January 29, 2025, executive order supporting school choice. “But too many children do not thrive in their assigned, government-run K-12 school. … It is the policy of my administration to support parents in choosing and directing the upbringing and education of their children.”

This new category of homeschool will be entirely parent-led, exempted from current regulations and protected from potential future government overreach.

The state of Tennessee wasted no time in responding. The very next day, the state legislature passed the “Education Freedom Act of 2025,” which Governor Bill Lee (R) readily signed into law.

Longtime champion

Lee is a longtime champion of school choice. A year ago, in his 2024 State of the State address, he proposed $141.5 million in Education Freedom Scholarships designed to give parents more control over their children’s educations.

At the time, Lee said, “The premise behind Education Freedom, and the one thing that most all of us agree upon, is that parents know what’s best for their child’s education. … It’s time that parents get to decide — and not the government — where their child goes to school and what they learn.”

Those Education Freedom Scholarships never got off the ground. Now they’re back in the form of the EFA.

Limited scope

However, the bill’s scope is sharply limited. The kernel of the EFA retains (and slightly increases, to $144.2 million) EFS’ allotment for 20,000 scholarships to be used by eligible students attending eligible private schools — roughly $7,210 per student.

Students enrolled in home school and “church-related school” programs are specifically excluded. Additionally, students ages 3-11 “must be annually administered a nationally standardized achievement test that is aligned to the respective private school’s instructional plan, as determined by rules promulgated by the state board of education.”

While it’s only fair for the government to demand results for the money it doles out, it means that these private schools now effectively answer to the state’s board of education — which isn’t always the most conservative body, even here in blood-red Tennessee.

True FREEdom

The fact that these curricula must adhere to the standards demanded by the tests functionally dictates what can and can’t be taught. The TCAP, Tennessee’s standardized testing program, doesn’t exactly have a section for Latin or classical composers. In fact, I don’t know of a single standardized test that does.

To solve this problem, state Sen. Janice Bowling (R) and state Rep. Todd Warner (R) have sponsored the Family Right to Educational Emancipation (or FREE) Act.

The FREE Act would complete President Trump’s and Governor Lee’s promise of school choice and ensure that parents are put squarely in the driver’s seat by creating a new, independent class of homeschooler.

The best part? It will cost the state absolutely nothing.

Under the current law in Tennessee, homeschooling families have three options for educating their children. They can register:

• as an independent homeschool student with the local school district.
• with on online accredited program.
• through what is called an “umbrella school,” which under Tennessee law is technically a private school.

An umbrella school serves as a hub for collecting required data and submitting it to the state for students. Umbrella schools are the most common options chosen by families, because they provide the most flexibility.

The FREE Act would create an entirely new designation that acknowledges the authority of parents to guide their children’s education.

It “recognizes parents’ constitutional right to educate their children as they see fit,” says Tiffany Boyd of Free YOUR Children, a grassroots organization in Tennessee.

This new category of homeschool will be entirely parent-led, exempted from current regulations and protected from potential future government overreach. The FREE Act protects true parental autonomy.

Landmark legislation

The FREE Act has the support of some important organizations. The Homeschool Legal Defense Association, a national homeschooling organization, endorsed the bill in an email to its membership. “It’s hard to overstate how significant this proposed legislation is,” says HSLDA attorney for states Will Estrada.

The Tennessee Home Education Association has also endorsed this legislation, saying, “THEA enthusiastically supports this bill and encourages all homeschooling families to begin to learn to embrace true freedom in education.”

In its call to action for parents, THEA encouraged parents to call their representatives and ask them to support this legislation. “As a homeschooling parent, I ask that you support S.B. 494 and H.B. 552, the FREE Act. This common-sense bill will expand freedom in Tennessee, protect parental rights, and make Tennessee the 12th state in the nation that does not require parents to get a permission slip from the government before they homeschool their children.”

In this new golden age of freedom, fiscal responsibility, and reduced government overreach, the passage of the FREE Act in Tennessee would be a huge win for parental rights.

Universal school choice is bringing vouchers to Tennessee, and this legislation would take that quest for freedom from failing government institutions a step farther by protecting the right of the parents to determine educational methods for their children, free from government interference.