Of the 19 public school districts in Southeast Tennessee, at least seven have passed resolutions opposing Gov. Bill Lee’s proposal to expand the state’s private school voucher program statewide, and several other systems have resolutions pending.
In November, Lee announced a plan to push legislation that would expand Tennessee’s education savings account program, also known as private school vouchers, beyond Davidson, Shelby and Hamilton counties to all 95 of the state’s counties. His proposal would provide more than $7,000 to each participant to use to attend a private school.
While the voucher program expanded to Hamilton County this fall, Lee’s proposal could have implications for the thousands of students zoned for one of Southeast Tennessee’s 18 other school districts whose parents or guardians want to send them to private school. The proposed removal of income limits could also affect the number of Hamilton County students who enroll.
“We are definitely opposed to this,” McMinn County Schools Director Lee Parkison said by phone. “It won’t be good for public schools. They keep saying it won’t hurt our funding, but when we lose students, we lose the funding with that student. It’s going to be a funding issue.”
Taking a stance