Gov. Bill Haslam speaks at a Tennessee Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Nashville on Tuesday, March 25, 2014.NASHVILLE – Gov. Bill Haslam said Thursday that lawmakers still have a “ways to go” in reaching a consensus on his school voucher legislation, particularly in the House where the proposal has stalled.
But the Republican governor told reporters after speaking at a higher education event organized by the Tennessee Business Roundtable that he’s optimistic a measured approach to his proposal will prevail.
“I think at the end of the day we want to get something done,” he said. “We’re having … discussions now.”
Vouchers – or so-called “opportunity scholarships” – give parents the option to move a child from a failing public school to a private school, with the state providing funds for tuition.
Haslam originally sought to limit the vouchers to students from low-income families attending the bottom 5 percent of failing schools.