Debate Heats Up over Education Freedom Act

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- A proposal this year by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee could radically change education across the state.

Some call them school vouchers.

Others call it school choice.

These terms have different connotations depending on who you ask, but for Governor Lee and other State Republicans, they believe the Education Freedom Act is needed to ensure quality education moving forward.

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton voiced his strong support for the Education Freedom Act announced this week by Governor Lee while visiting Chattanooga Thursday.

The Education Freedom Act would provide school vouchers across the state for a predetermined amount of applicants.

If passed, the program would begin in the 2024-25 school year with 20,000 total scholarships.

Half of those would be earmarked for students at or below 300 percent of the poverty level among other factors such as students with disabilities, while the other half would go to anyone else who applies.

Starting in the 2025-26 school year, all Tennessee students would be eligible with what the plan says is a priority towards low-income students.

Many State Republicans have voiced their support for the Governor’s plan, but there has also been opposition.

The Tennessee Education Association, which is the largest teacher’s union in the state of Tennessee, issued a statement condemning the proposal.

The statement reads as follows:

“Tennessee’s public schools are the foundation of the communities they serve. Taking taxpayer dollars to fund private school tuition statewide would divert much-needed resources from our already underfunded public schools and threaten the strength of our Tennessee communities. Fewer students and less funding will put beloved neighborhood schools at risk for closure.

Tennessee is strong because of our great public schools. More than 90% of Tennessee children attend public schools. Our skilled and hardworking workforce, low unemployment and corporations relocating to our great state are all a result of Tennessee public schools providing a high-quality education to every student. A statewide voucher program would jeopardize the foundation our state’s success is built upon: Tennessee’s public schools.

When a limited voucher bill narrowly passed in 2019, false promises were made about it only being for Nashville and Memphis. Now here we are just one year into the actual implementation of the program with the governor attempting to expand the unproven program statewide. What we do know from other states is that vouchers do not improve student outcomes and often segregate communities. The proposal allows for unaccredited, unproven and unaccountable private schools to siphon public funding away from the local school district and leave Tennessee children without the high-quality education they would have received in their neighborhood public school.

Gov. Lee also wants to eliminate any income requirements, confirming TEA’s long held position that vouchers have never been about helping economically disadvantaged families whether they live in cities, suburbs or rural communities. The goal has always been to privatize public education and use public dollars to fund private school education, which goes against our Tennessee values.

The General Assembly needs to fulfill their constitutional obligation to provide a system of public education for our children and to do right by all Tennessee students by rejecting the governor’s proposal.”

The Speaker says these concerns are unfounded.

Sexton said, “This scholarship doesn’t directly take money out because it is not part of the TISA funding, it’s not within the K through 12 funding so there is no direct, there’s no money following this kid in this scholarship. So from that standpoint, that’s not accurate. They want to tell the government to tell you what’s taught in school, they want to tell you have to go to that school so that you can’t leave that school. If you do, you can only leave if you can afford to leave. That sounds not American to me.”

He argues critics are misunderstanding the point of the legislation.

Sexton said, “People are looking at it from the standpoint of people leaving school systems. What this really is about is parents having the capability of the making the decision for their child that’s best for them.”

Another criticism that has been brought up is that students who are already in private schools could apply for these scholarships.

The Speaker says those critics aren’t considering private school families who aren’t wealthy.

Sexton said, “You have parents right now who’ve already made the decision who are working a second job to pay for the private school. Maybe they’ve mortgaged their house to pay for the second school.”

He mentioned Florida as a model for what he wants Tennessee education to look like.

If this legislation were to pass, it would make Tennessee the 10th state in the country to adopt a statewide program of this type.