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Charter school operators have applied to open or run 13 schools in five Tennessee school systems beginning in the fall of 2026 amid the state’s rapidly changing school-choice landscape.
Memphis-Shelby County Schools received five applications by this month’s deadline — the most by any school system statewide, according to the state education department.
They include two from IOTA Community Schools asking for new 10-year charters to continue operating schools in its network that are set to exit the state-run Achievement School District next year.
And two aspiring charter operators are interested in opening Tennessee’s first-ever “opportunity” charter schools in Memphis and Nashville under a 2024 state law aimed at creating learning options for youth considered at risk of becoming disconnected from traditional public schools.
School choice options are expanding rapidly under policies pushed by Gov. Bill Lee and panned by critics who say they are destabilizing traditional public schools. Traditional public schools serve most of the state’s nearly 1 million students, including historically underserved groups.
The state is preparing to launch a universal school voucher program this fall to give up to 20,000 students taxpayer funds to pay toward private school tuition.
And a new charter school proposal from Lee would create ways for operators to bypass their local elected school boards and apply directly to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission for authorization to open more of the independently governed but publicly funded schools.
If that bill becomes law, some of its provisions could kick in with this year’s cohort of charter applicants.
The filings kick off application reviews by staff for each receiving school system, which will recommend to their school boards whether to approve or deny them this spring.
Based on that local feedback, rejected applicants can submit revised applications for another school board vote this summer. Applicants that are denied again can appeal that decision to the state commission to vote on this fall.
Last year, nine applicants met the state’s Feb. 1 deadline to submit proposals to open a charter school for 2025-26. Six were ultimately approved, including four on appeal.
In 2023, 14 operators applied, and six were ultimately approved, including four on appeal.
New legislation, new law could impact Tennessee’s charter sector
Under the governor’s new legislative proposal to revise charter school law, beginning this July 1, any school board whose decision to deny a charter application is overturned by the state three times within three years could be bypassed, allowing a charter operator to apply directly to the state charter commission for authorization during the next five years.
Also at play this year is the 2024 opportunity charter school law, pushed by House Speaker Cameron Sexton, to open new charter school campuses for middle or high school students who are considered at risk.
At least 75% of each school’s students would have to be documented as dealing with any of a range of challenges such as juvenile crime, substance abuse, chronic absenteeism, teen pregnancy, getting held back in several grades, dropping out of school, or experiencing abuse or neglect.
Opportunity charter schools would operate under different standards than traditional public schools or other public charter schools.
If their opportunity charter applications are approved, the Still I Rise Academy in Memphis and The Rock Academy in Nashville schools would not receive A-F letter grades in their first year of operation, based on rules approved in December by the state Board of Education.
After that, the state’s calculation to grade opportunity charter middle schools would place slightly more importance on academic growth than on student proficiency. And the state’s grades for opportunity charter high schools would emphasize college and career readiness.
Hillsdale-linked charter group didn’t apply again
Missing for a second straight year from the state’s list of charter applicants is American Classical Education, the group associated with Michigan’s Hillsdale College. Hillsdale made headlines in 2022 with Lee’s endorsement and invitation to its leaders to apply to open at least 50 charter schools across Tennessee that align with the governor’s conservative beliefs regarding civics and history.
American Classical withdrew its first three applications later that year amid public outrage over Hillsdale President Larry Arnn’s comment that teachers are “trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country.”
In 2023, American Classical was approved to open two charter schools in Tennessee, one authorized locally in Rutherford County and the other approved by the state commission on appeal for Madison County.
Asked why the network didn’t seek new charters in 2025, board member Tricia Stickel told Chalkbeat that American Classical is focused on supporting its new Rutherford County school, which opened in La Vergne last August.
The Madison County charter, which in January received its second one-year delay to launch, is now scheduled to open for 2026-27 as American Classical seeks to hire a leader and secure a campus location.
Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.
