NASHVILLE – Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s education savings account legislation advanced in Senate and House committees Wednesday, but an immigrant rights group is charging the governor’s bill is “bucking the Constitution” because it seeks to exclude undocumented children.
“This bill suffers from serious constitutional and legal problems that will undoubtedly lead to costly taxpayer funded litigation that is doomed to fail in the courts,” reads a statement from Lisa Sherman-Nikolaus, policy director at the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition.
To address several political issues, including concerns raised by some House Republicans over undocumented children being able to qualify for the taxpayer-funded school voucher-like program, Lee came forth with an amendment re-write of the bill.
It seeks to exclude undocumented students by requiring parents to provide official documents such as a driver’s license, birth certificate or a passport.
While the Lee administration has said that’s intended to provide information so the state can audit families’ expenditures to deter fraud and ensure public dollars are being spent on private school tuition, uniforms and other education-related expenditures, Lee himself acknowledged to reporters earlier this month that the legal status of participants was at least part of the rationale.