Democrats Decry School Voucher Ad Buy

Several education advocacy groups are running TV ads supporting school vouchers. Image courtesy Beacon Center

The Tennessee Democratic Party is crying foul as advocacy groups begin running TV spots promoting school vouchers. The ad target certain lawmakers without mentioning specific legislation.

This commercial is running in West Tennessee, paid for by a local chapter of the Washington D.C.-based American Federation for Children – a school choice cheerleader.

“Tell Bill Sanderson our students are counting on him.”

The conservative Beacon Center has ads of its own, calling for reform that “puts parents in charge.” It downplays that the private school scholarships would be paid for with public money.

Roy Herron who heads the state’s Democratic Party is using strong language to voice opposition, saying “vultures want vouchers” and referring to private schools as “segregation academies.”

“We’ve got a feeding frenzy of public dollars available and folks coming in to pilfer and plunder off the public tax dollars.”

However, not all Democrats are of like mind. In fact, the only vote on vouchers so far this year included yeses from two Democrats, including Nashville’s Harold Love, Jr.