Tennessee governor backs Trump plan to nix Department of Education, sees bellwether on new school choice bill

Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee told Fox News Digital that helium believes President-elect Donald Trump's decisive triumph signals occurrence for a 2nd schoolhouse prime measure introduced to the authorities legislature this week aft his archetypal connection failed this year. 

Lee said helium agreed with Trump's promises to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, echoing the president-elect's interest implicit the national bureaucracy becoming entrenched with sex and contention ideology alternatively than learning.

"I deliberation it is simply a large thought to dismantle the Department of Education federally. And I'm a beardown believer that argumentation astatine the authorities level should beryllium handled by states, that states cognize best," Lee told Fox News Digital. "In this case, states surely cognize best. We cognize champion successful Tennessee what our children request and however champion to amended our kids. The parents of this authorities should beryllium fixed a greater power connected however their kids are educated, and that volition hap if the national Department of Education is dismantled and those funds are delivered to states to beryllium utilized successful a much businesslike and much effectual way."

Lee said the governmental situation connected the crushed successful the authorities is not what it was months agone erstwhile the archetypal schoolhouse prime connection failed successful the authorities legislature. Since then, the predetermination saw a question of pro-school prime candidates triumph astatine the state-level, and Trump succeeded successful his bid for the White House.

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Gov. Bill Lee discusses the devastation from Hurricane Helene astatine the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency connected Oct. 2, 2024, successful Nashville. (Mark Zaleski/The Tennessean/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

"President Trump has agelong believed that schoolhouse prime is important for the radical of this state and that acquisition state is thing that each Americans could have. He's talked astir it. He campaigned connected it," Lee said. "One happening is precise evident astir what happened past week. And President Trump is precise wide astir what his policies are, and Americans were precise wide astir their acceptance of those policies past week. They, with a beardown mandate, said we similar what we hear. We privation him to execute connected those things and that President Trump has a important knowing and a wide knowing and is the leader, frankly, connected the contented of schoolhouse choice. All of those things payment america arsenic we determination into this adjacent session."

Lee's caller schoolhouse prime bill, titled the Education Freedom Act of 2025, was jointly introduced to the authorities House and Senate connected Wednesday.

Drawing from backing already approved by the authorities legislature, the measure would let the authorities Department of Education to grant up to 20,000 scholarships – valued astatine astir $7,000 each – for the adjacent schoolhouse twelvemonth to beryllium spent connected tuition, tutoring, exertion and introspection expenses. The archetypal 10,000 scholarships would beryllium acceptable speech for low-income students whose parents mightiness not different spend to nonstop their children to institutions different than the nationalist schools successful their districts. 

Democrats person painted schoolhouse prime arsenic disenfranchising low-income students, but Lee said helium feels the opposite.

"Every kid is unique. Every kid has antithetic learning styles. Every kid has a antithetic beingness situation. And each household ought to person the accidental to take the champion way for their kid," the politician said. "In particular, I don't deliberation that lone the affluent families that tin spend a backstage option, that those families should beryllium the lone ones and those children should beryllium the lone ones that person that enactment for choice."

President-elect Trump has been shaping up his Cabinet nominations. (Jabin Botsford/Washington Post via Getty Images)

"Oftentimes, opponents volition accidental that schoolhouse prime initiatives wounded nationalist schools. I deliberation that's conscionable the opposite," Lee said. "This authorities that we're really bringing distant is an acquisition argumentation initiative. It's not conscionable an Education Freedom Scholarship bill. It includes historical backing for nationalist schools, bonuses for teachers, for nationalist schoolhouse teachers. We volition see alongside with this authorities a teacher wage rise program that volition enactment america successful the apical 15 states for teacher wage rise successful the country."

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Lee noted that astir 30 states already person schoolhouse choice, 12 of which person cosmopolitan schoolhouse choice, and respective of those states person passed their initiatives successful caller years. 

"Americans are successful increasing numbers, and present the bulk of Americans, arsenic evidenced by the past elections, person travel to judge that schoolhouse prime is the mode of the future," Lee said. "It is the reply to challenging the presumption quo. It is the mode that we instrumentality America's rankings and acquisition outcomes that utilized to beryllium the apical successful the satellite from mode down the database arsenic it relates to different countries backmost up into the outcomes that we anticipation for this country."

"This is simply a mode to situation and alteration and bring innovation into an acquisition strategy that's grown stale and bloated and bureaucratic," Lee said. "And we spot it happening each crossed America. We judge it's going to hap successful Tennessee. It is an incredibly important infinitesimal successful our state for parental rights and for the aboriginal of children and their education." 

Lee said his schooling increasing up successful Tennessee happened earlier the U.S. Department of Education was established successful 1979. 

"We knew however to bash it then. We cognize however to bash it now," Lee said, explaining that Tennessee created a backing look that "uniquely recognizes the needs of children with disabilities, with dyslexia and with English arsenic a 2nd language. "We cognize however to money acquisition for Tennessee children. We cognize overmuch amended than they bash successful a bureaucratic instauration similar the national Department of Education. I deliberation President Trump is precisely right. I deliberation it's a large idea."

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee looks astatine a conception of Interstate 26 implicit the Nolichucky River that collapsed during a flood successful Erwin connected Oct. 1, 2024. (Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

"As a governor, I would invited the concern with President Trump successful allowing states to take and find however champion to walk acquisition dollars for their kids," helium added.

If Trump goes done with eliminating the U.S. Department of Education, experts expect the process could instrumentality respective years. 

With Cabinet nominations underway, Fox News Digital asked Lee who helium would similar to spot arsenic Trump's acquisition caput and if the politician would see throwing his ain sanction successful the running.

"What I volition accidental is and what I anticipation is that whoever takes this occupation is looking to enactment themselves retired of a job," Lee said. "It volition instrumentality the close benignant of person who truly understands, and I think, who truly understands however states tin relation and however problematic for states national bureaucracies are. Governors recognize that. There are a batch of folks who would beryllium well-qualified for this, but the adjacent idiosyncratic needs to beryllium hoping to enactment themselves retired of a job."

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On the heels of the devastation brought by Hurricane Helene, the politician said the caller schoolhouse prime measure would besides perpetrate authorities dollars from its sports gambling gross to the operation and attraction of nationalist schoolhouse facilities. The measure besides offers $2,000 one-time bonuses to each teacher successful the authorities and promises supplemental backing for schoolhouse districts affected by enrollment drops.

"We tin person the champion nationalist schools successful America," Lee said. "We tin perpetrate the close magnitude of finances and the close magnitude of focus. We tin fortify and enactment our nationalist schools successful unprecedented ways and supply state and accidental for parents and choice. At the aforesaid time, those are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they shouldn't be. We should amended each acquisition accidental for each kid successful our authorities and volition bash truthful done this legislation."