Opinion

Overturning an outlandish Supreme Court ruling is the only way to fix education

Tennessee bill would require public and charter school officials to verify students' immigration status

By Corey DeAngelis Fox News

Published March 16, 2026 7:00am EDT

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Tennessee lawmakers have taken a bold stand against the misuse of taxpayer dollars in public education. On March 10, House Bill 793 advanced out of a full committee with a 15-9 vote, divided mostly along party lines, with Republicans in favor and all seven Democrats opposed. The proposal is scheduled to be heard on the House floor on March 16.

The measure now requires public and charter school officials to verify students' immigration status at enrollment and report the aggregate results to the state. The proposal originally empowered school officials to deny enrollment to students who could not prove lawful presence in the United States or to charge their families tuition. That provision remains in the Senate's version – which already passed that chamber 19 to 13 – but opponents to the measure later stripped it out of the House proposal. 

This proposal represents the bare minimum in addressing a long-standing injustice, yet it falls far short of what is truly needed. Requiring verification and reporting data sheds light on the number of illegal immigrants in public schools, but it does nothing to stop the flow of taxpayer dollars subsidizing their education.

In Tennessee, as in many states, per-student allocations drive budgets, meaning districts gain financially from admitting more students, regardless of immigration status. Lawmakers must go further by prohibiting public schools from using any tax dollars to educate those unlawfully present. Such a ban would redirect resources exclusively to lawful residents and citizens, allowing per-student funding to surge for........

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