Homeschool funding & ESAs in Tennessee

Can I get paid to homeschool in Tennessee?

Not as a salary. What Tennessee offers is an education savings account, for a student with a qualifying disability: the Individualized Education Account (IEA) puts an annual award into an account you spend on expenses the program approves, rather than paying you to teach. An ESA comes with conditions — what the money may be spent on, what has to be reported, and in some states whether the child is still counted as a homeschooler. The program details below set those out. Romeschool tracks and organizes what you spend, so a receipt is ready the moment a program asks for one — it never files or submits anything on your behalf. It runs the other way too: Tennessee's homeschool rules require a test or an evaluation in grades 5, 7, and 9. The accepted options, and who administers each, are in the testing line below. Which pathway you homeschool under changes that, so read the testing line before you plan around it. If the option you choose charges a fee, plan for it.

Tennessee ESA programs

What does Tennessee require of homeschoolers — and what should I plan for?

Tennessee requires a test or an evaluation in grades 5, 7, and 9. That is the part of the year a family arranges ahead of time. Which pathway you homeschool under changes this. Which options Tennessee accepts — and who administers each one — is in the testing line below, in the reviewed rules' own words. If the option you choose charges a fee, plan for it. What Tennessee asks for — notice, instruction time, testing and records — is set out below, straight from the reviewed rules.

Notice

Yes. Tennessee requires homeschooling families to file a notice. Where it goes: Independent: local Director of Schools. Church-related umbrella (Category IV): the umbrella school. How: Independent: annual Notice of Intent on the state form. Category IV: enroll with the umbrella school. When: Independent: before the start of each school year — Tennessee sets no statewide calendar date. The statute asks only for annual notice to the local director of schools prior to each school year (T.C.A. § 49-6-3050(b)(1)), and the state's Notice of Intent form says to return it before the start of each school year. The Department of Education's guidance adds that a first registration has no deadline at all: it can be filed at any time, including partway through a school year when a child is withdrawn from public school. The August 1 deadline and the $20-a-week late payment families still see quoted appear in neither the current statute nor the department's current guidance, and do not bind. Each district has a home school coordinator who takes the form. Independent files an annual NOI with the LEA; Category IV students enroll in and are supervised by the church-related umbrella and do not file separately with the LEA.

Testing or evaluation

Yes. Tennessee requires a test or another accepted form of evaluation. How often: At grades 5, 7, and 9 (independent pathway only). Who this applies to: independent home school (T.C.A. § 49-6-3050). Accepted options: A nationally normed standardized test selected and paid for by the parent-teacher, reporting English language arts and mathematics, proctored by someone who is not related to the student — so a parent cannot proctor their own child — and scored by the developer of the test. It may be taken at a professional testing service or at a location the parent-teacher chooses. and the same state-board-approved test required of public-school students in that grade (TCAP), given free at the public school the student would otherwise attend, or by a professional testing service approved by the LEA at the parent-teacher's expense. The law excludes the grade 9 end-of-course exam, so the department says this option is currently available for grades 5 and 7 only. Testing at grades 5, 7 and 9 is required only of independent home school students. Church-related umbrella (Category IV) students are outside this section of the law (§ 49-6-3050(a)(2)) and are exempt from state testing; the umbrella school sets its own policy. The state-test option does not reach grade 9 — the law excludes the grade 9 end-of-course exam, and that is the only test grade-9 public-school students sit — so a grade-9 student takes a parent-selected nationally normed test. Whichever option is used, the results must be provided to the parent-teacher, the Director of Schools and the State Board of Education.

Days and hours

Tennessee's rule: 180 days/year; at least 4 hours/day. Independent parents submit the attendance records to the Director of Schools, or the district's home school coordinator as designee, at the end of each school year; the records are also subject to inspection by the Director of Schools at any time.

Records

Tennessee requires these records: attendance register (submitted to the Director of Schools at the end of each school year) and assessment results for grades 5, 7 and 9 — reported to the parent-teacher, the Director of Schools and the State Board of Education (independent pathway). How long, or where they go: Attendance records go to the Director of Schools at the end of each school year, and test results are reported for each tested grade (independent pathway). The department's guidance says the home school keeps all student records, including transcripts and the diploma. Independent parents send the attendance records to the Director of Schools, usually through the district's home school coordinator; Category IV umbrella families keep records under the umbrella school's rules. Test results are reported, not merely retained: under either testing option they must go to the parent-teacher, the Director of Schools and the State Board of Education, and a parent-selected test must be scored by the developer of the test.

Full Tennessee homeschool requirements →

Common questions about homeschool funding in Tennessee

Does Tennessee have an education savings account (ESA) for homeschoolers?

Yes, for a student with a qualifying disability. Tennessee offers the Individualized Education Account (IEA), which independent homeschooling families can use for approved education expenses. Tennessee also runs two programs that route through participating private or umbrella schools, which independent homeschoolers generally cannot use.

Nationwide grants

• ACT Today! Grant · Autism Care Today
  For U.S. families of a child with an autism diagnosis (priority to household income under $100k).
  Open to any family of a child with autism — not homeschool-specific, but useful for therapy costs.
• Dyslexia Services Foundation Grant · Dyslexia Services Foundation
  For low-income U.S. children with dyslexia who cannot otherwise afford treatment (need shown via free/reduced lunch, Medicaid, or SNAP).
  Typically identified through a teacher or provider; not homeschool-specific.
• HSLDA Compassion Curriculum Grant · Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)
  For HSLDA members with significant financial need (legal custody of a child 6-19, homeschooling 3+ months).
  You must privately fund your homeschool (not receiving ESA or other public funds).
• HSLDA Disaster Relief Grant · Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)
  For homeschooling families (child 6-19) with physical disaster damage in the past 18 months.
• MyGOAL Autism Grant · MyGOAL Inc.
  For the primary caregiver of a child under 18 with autism, with demonstrated financial need.
  Open to any family of a child with autism — not homeschool-specific.
• Our Military Kids Grant · Our Military Kids
  For children (1-18) of deployed National Guard/Reserve members (60+ days) or of post-9/11 combat-injured service members and veterans.
  Funds organized, provider-led activities (not parent-taught core instruction).
• UnitedHealthcare Children's Foundation Grant · UnitedHealthcare Children's Foundation
  For U.S. children aged 16 or under with commercial (non-public) health insurance, subject to income guidelines.
  Medical (not education) funding — useful for special-needs homeschoolers' therapy costs.

Full details, amounts and deadlines for every program →