Tennessee 114th General Assembly Status: Enacted 2 R cosponsors

SB 2318 — AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, relative to charter schools.

Last action — Effective date(s) 05/22/2026

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed Senate
  4. ✓
    Passed House
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 22, 2026. Enacted.

Signed by Governor Bill Lee (Republican) on April 30, 2026.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 74% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

High

How often bills like it became law.

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 2 sponsors

    1 primary, 1 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (2 R).

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 2 recorded votes so far.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

In plain language

The bill allows private colleges to open public charter schools in Tennessee.

This legislation permits private postsecondary institutions, including religiously affiliated ones, to establish public charter schools. These institutions can give enrollment preference to children of their employees or governing body members.

What this means for you
  • Families: Families may have new educational options with public charter schools operated by private colleges.

Summary

Schools, Charter - As enacted, allows private postsecondary institutions, including those that are religiously affiliated, to operate a public charter school; allows such institutions to apply to the local board of education or directly to the Tennessee public charter school commission to open a public charter school and to give an enrollment preference to children of the institution's employees or members of its governing body in the same manner afforded to public institutions of higher education. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Comp. became Pub. Ch. 1128

  2. Pub. Ch. 1128

  3. Effective date(s) 05/22/2026

  4. Signed by Governor.

  5. Transmitted to Governor for action.

  6. Signed by H. Speaker

  7. Signed by Senate Speaker

  8. Enrolled and ready for signatures

  9. Comp. SB subst.

  10. Subst. for comp. HB.

  11. Passed H., Ayes 65, Nays 18, PNV 0

  12. Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee

  13. Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/14/2026

  14. H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/16/2026

  15. Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  16. Placed on cal. Finance, Ways, and Means Committee for 4/14/2026

  17. Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/8/2026

  18. Rec. for pass; ref to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  19. Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee

  20. Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.

  21. Action def. in Education Committee to 4/1/2026

  22. Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/31/2026

  23. Passed Senate, Ayes 25, Nays 5

  24. Sponsor(s) Added.

  25. Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

  26. Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/23/2026

  27. Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/24/2026

  28. Action def. in Education Committee to 3/24/2026

  29. Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/17/2026

  30. Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  31. Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Education Committee

  32. Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/11/2026

  33. Placed on s/c cal K-12 Subcommittee for 3/10/2026

  34. Action Def. in s/c K-12 Subcommittee to 3/10/2026

  35. Placed on s/c cal K-12 Subcommittee for 3/3/2026

  36. Action deferred in Senate Education Committee to 3/11/2026

  37. Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 2/25/2026

  38. Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee

  39. P2C, ref. to Education Committee

  40. Assigned to s/c K-12 Subcommittee

  41. Intro., P1C.

  42. Filed for introduction

  43. Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  44. Filed for introduction

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 1 co-sponsors · 131 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (1)

Not signed on (131)

131 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 131 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

Subjects

education
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does SB 2318 do?
Schools, Charter - As enacted, allows private postsecondary institutions, including those that are religiously affiliated, to operate a public charter school; allows such institutions to apply to the local board of education or directly to the Tennessee public charter school commission to open a public charter school and to give an enrollment preference to children of the institution's employees or members of its governing body in the same manner afforded to public institutions of higher education. - Amends TCA Title 49.
Who sponsors SB 2318?
SB 2318 is sponsored by Hensley, Joey (Republican) and Stevens, John (Republican).
What is the current status of SB 2318?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 22, 2026. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 2318?
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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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