KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Tennessee Governor Bill Lee‘s announcement Tuesday proposing a statewide expansion of an education voucher program has renewed fierce debate among educators, parents and lawmakers.
The announcement regarded the governor’s plan to expand school vouchers to all 95 counties. The plan would allow tax money to cover tuition for a student attending private school. Each student accepted for a scholarship would receive $7,000 to fund their tuition.
Amy Hale has two kids that attend Hamblen County Schools, and believes the governor’s proposed plan would not benefit the majority.
“Most of the people that would benefit from vouchers are the people who are already in private school. So they can already afford their kids to go to private school, they’re just going to get some of their money back, I guess, or get a discount,” Hale said.
State Representative Sam McKenzie echoed Hale’s concern.
“If you look at the top ten schools in Knox County private schools, $7,000 won’t pay for most of their tuition, let alone transportation to get there,” he said. “How we’re going to feed those students and all those ancillary things?”
Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton argued that there are already private school students who are in need.
“You have families that we’ve talked to that have said, ‘hey we’re going to have to borrow money or mortgage the house because we want to send our kids to a private school that we can’t afford.’ So limiting a parents ability based on income and thinking that we can do just a little bit for the lowest income people, everyone needs help,” he said.
Anderson County Director of Schools Tim Parrott said he supports parents’ choice to send their child to private school, but funding should be separate.
“If it’s so important to Lee and them, fund it out of something else. Don’t fund it on the back of public education and don’t make public education look bad just so they can say this is what is needed,” he said.
He believes the plan would further disadvantage certain students.
“I want every one of them to be successful. Not just the ones that can afford to go to a private school with a voucher. I want all of those students, the ones that sleep in a car at night, the ones that don’t have food, the ones that we buy shoes for. All of those students deserve the same support that these other students get,” he said.
Sexton went on to say that the vouchers will help kids who need certain resources at school.
“This is simply about allowing the family to make the conversation and make the decision to provide equality education for their kid that maybe they’re not getting or to meet the unique needs that their child needs, that maybe they need to go somewhere else. So this is a conversation, everybody wants to make this about money, and it’s not about money it’s about the child,” Sexton said.
For Hale, public school is the best option and she said that’s the case for many.
“We depend on the public schools to provide a good education and they need every dollar they can get to do that,” she said.
Under the plan, a total of 20,000 scholarships would be awarded on a rolling first-come, first serve basis in the 2024-25 school year, with half being available to Tennessee students who meet certain criteria. The following school year, all students entitled to attend a public school would be eligible.
Additional settings for Safari Browser.
