By Jenna Somers and Krystal Schmidt
Tennessee’s Education Freedom Act of 2025 takes effect in the 2025-2026 school year. In the first year, the Tennessee Department of Education will award 20,000 state-funded scholarships, commonly known as vouchers, to eligible families to support their children’s attendance at scholarship-accepting private schools.
In light of Tennessee’s new policy, Carrie Grimes, EdD’20, assistant professor of the practice of leadership, policy, and organizations at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development, offers guidance in this video-recorded Q&A to help parents as they decide where to send their children to school next year.
Grimes is an expert on independent and private school leadership with high-level experience in the sector. In this video, she discusses topics that families may want to consider when evaluating schools, such as leadership and governance, curriculum, social-emotional learning, school culture, and support for children with special needs.
Grimes directs the master of education program in Independent School Leadership at Peabody College. Applications to the program are welcome at this time.
