Tennessee Senate Bill SB2090

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/22/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 10, Part 14; Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 26 and Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 35, relative to education.

Summary

SB2090 would impose new civic-education and patriotic-participation requirements on schools that receive public funds through Tennessee’s education savings account (ESA) and individual education account (IEA) programs, and it would also affect private schools whose students receive scholarship aid. The bill requires participating schools to set aside time each school day for students to have the opportunity to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, while respecting constitutional limits. It also requires age- and grade-appropriate instruction in civics and American history, but says schools do not have to change their curriculum if they already teach social studies that includes those subjects. The bill further prohibits participating schools from including or promoting certain concepts listed elsewhere in Tennessee law, from advocating for foreign legal systems that would violate constitutional rights, and from denying military recruiters and ROTC representatives access to campus during the school day. For private schools, eligibility for scholarship-funded students would depend on meeting the same conditions. The act would take effect July 1, 2026, and apply beginning with the 2026-2027 school year.

Impact

SB2090 would amend Tennessee Code Annotated provisions governing IEAs, ESAs, and private-school scholarship eligibility by conditioning public education funds on compliance with new civics, pledge, curriculum-content, foreign-law, and military-access requirements. It would effectively add a new compliance framework for participating schools and create a funding consequence for private schools that do not meet the listed standards. The bill also cross-references Tennessee’s existing restrictions on certain instructional concepts and modifies related statutory language to make those requirements applicable to these school programs.

Sentiment

Based on the bill text alone and the absence of committee transcripts or recorded votes in the provided materials, the measure appears to be framed positively by its sponsors as a civics-and-freedom protection bill. The stated purpose emphasizes good citizenship, American founding principles, and preventing public funds from supporting instruction viewed as contrary to constitutional freedoms. No contrary testimony or vote history is available here, so the broader legislative sentiment cannot be measured beyond the bill’s affirmative framing.

Contention

The main points of contention are likely to be the bill’s restrictions on instructional content and its requirement that schools receiving public funds comply with specific civic and patriotic practices. Critics could object that the bill intrudes on private-school autonomy, curriculum decisions, and speech-related rights, especially through the prohibition on materials that include or promote concepts listed in another statute and the ban on advocacy for foreign legal systems. Supporters are likely to emphasize accountability for publicly funded schools, civic education, and military recruitment access. The constitutional caveat on the Pledge of Allegiance suggests awareness of possible First Amendment concerns.