TN Legislature update: Shelby County schools voucher bill dead for the year

April 26, 2017 at 1:54 p.m. | Updated April 26, 2017 at 1:54 p.m.

by Andy Sher

FILE - In this April 22, 2015, file photo, supporters of a bill to extend in-state tuition to students whose parents brought them into the country illegally signal their position on a motion from the well of the House chamber in Nashville, Tenn. From right are Reps. Mark White, R-Memphis; Joe Towns, D-Memphis, and Harry Brooks, R-Knoxville. A deeply conservative state, Tennessee voted overwhelmingly for President Donald Trump and his tough stance on immigration. And yet, Republican lawmakers are pushing a proposal that would allow public colleges to offer in-state tuition rates to students whose parents brought them into the country illegally. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig, File)
FILE - In this April 22, 2015, file photo, supporters of a bill to extend in-state tuition to students whose parents brought them into the country illegally signal their position on a motion from the well of the House chamber in Nashville, Tenn. From right are Reps. Mark White, R-Memphis; Joe Towns, D-Memphis, and Harry Brooks, R-Knoxville. A deeply conservative state, Tennessee voted overwhelmingly for President Donald Trump and his tough stance on immigration. And yet, Republican lawmakers are pushing a proposal that would allow public colleges to offer in-state tuition rates to students whose parents brought them into the country illegally. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig, File)

NASHVILLE - A scaled-down school voucher pilot project measure applying only to Shelby County is dead for the year in the Tennessee Legislature.

House Budget Subcommittee members today voted to put the controversial bill off until 2018 at the request of Education Administration and Planning Committee Chairman Harry Brooks, R-Knoxville, the measure's sponsor.

The bill would have allowed parents of students in Shelby County Schools' lowest-performing schools get public money to pay to attend public schools. Memphis education leaders said it would cost the system $18 million annually.

Voucher proponents, who prefer to call them "opportunity scholarships," have unsuccessfully sought to pass broader measures since at least 2011 when Republicans took firm control of the General Assembly.

Budget Subcommittee Chairman Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, and panel colleagues today are sorting through many remaining bills with costs to the state as lawmakers work to wrap up the first session of the 110th General Assembly during the week of May 8.

Upcoming Events