(The Center Square) – Tennessee Republican Rep. Jody Barrett didn’t vote with his party when the Education Freedom Scholarship passed, and now that the bill is officially law, he said he has more concerns.

The 20,000 scholarships, which Barrett and Democrats call “vouchers,” give families $7,295 to attend the private school of their choice. The bill passed during a special session called by Republican Gov. Bill Lee in January that Barrett said cost $1 billion. Seven Senate Republicans and 20 Republican House members, including Barrett, voted against it.  

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The program begins with the 2025-26 school year. The application period ended June 18 and the program is highly popular with Tennessee parents, Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds previously said.

“The demand for universal school choice in Tennessee is strong, and families are embracing the freedom they have been provided through the Education Freedom Scholarship Program,” Reynolds said. “All students deserve the ability to access a learning environment that best fits their unique needs.”

The state set aside $144 million for the first year of the scholarship program.

Now that the scholarships are law, Barrett has a new concern. He said the state is not collecting data as to where the students were previously enrolled, raising questions about whether the scholarships are helping students move to a better school, as was touted by Republican leaders.

“The Department of Education has intentionally, I think, omitted that question or that data point so they don’t have to answer that question or that data point so they don’t have to answer that question from members of the Legislature or the media or the public as to where this money is going and if it’s actually providing, any ‘educational freedom’ to the kids that are ‘trapped in a failing public school,'” Barrett said. “Taxpayers deserve to know where their money is going and whether this program is doing what it promised, not just writing blank checks.”

Barrett has raised questions about the long-term sustainability of the program since it was introduced.

“You’ve got this big airplane and you’ve got to get it in the air,” Barrett said. “Once you get that big airplane in the sky, in order to keep it in the air, the actual costs, we know of $144 million for the vouchers themselves but that’s if we don’t raise the costs of the vouchers. But you also have the maintenance cost, the oversight of the program itself, the additional salaries and … we’re paying some third party to oversee the money. It’s really a quarter of a billion a year without increasing the number of scholarships.”

Barrett said there is another way to help parents with education, tuition or homeschool expenses. President Donald Trump has talked about a tax credit and an expansion of a college scholarship savings plan called 529 to help parents of school-age children put aside pre-tax money for education expenses, he said.

“Those are things that are universal,” Barrett said. “Those are things that can actually be used and applied and taken advantage of by every parent. It’s not just limited to 20,000 students that may or may not get selected out of the lottery pool to get these vouchers that are being offered by the governor.”

Barrett’s admits his comments are a lot like concerns coming from Democrats. The scholarships are ranked at the top of a list compiled by the Senate Democratic Caucus of the state’s 11 worst laws of 2025.

“Despite claims of ‘universal access,’ the truth is the majority of vouchers will go to families already enrolled in private schools, families who are more likely to be wealthy,” a spokesman for the caucus said. “This is a massive, taxpayer-funded subsidy for private school families – while public schools, teachers, and students are left behind.”

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At least 38,000 applications were received, the Education Department said recently. Half of the scholarships will be awarded to families whose income falls 300% below the federal free or reduced-lunch price guidelines, which is $173,160 a year for a family of four, according to the Education Department.

Less than half of the applications, 18,852, are qualified income scholarships, the Education Department said previously, and the remaining are from universal scholarships with no income restrictions.