School vouchers. Education Savings Accounts. Academic Freedom. School Choice. Regardless of what you call them, ESAs are one of the hottest topics in the Tennessee legislative session.
Since we last talked about school vouchers back in fall 2022, the state legislature and governor have made major steps toward making these available to all Tennesseans. Right now, there are bills in the House and Senate that would give over $7,000 per student for their private school tuition— regardless of whether they were enrolled in public school. Some are calling this a subsidy for the rich, while some are saying vouchers will make private school more accessible for low and middle class families.
We’ll talk today with lawmakers, parents, advocates and reporters to understand this legislation. We will also turn to national perspectives on what has happened in states like Vermont and Arizona with their respective voucher programs — and see what we can learn from them.
This episode was produced by Elizabeth Burton. Special thanks to WPLN’s Alexis Marshall and Katherine Ceicys, as well as Austin Sauerbrei, Ken Jobe and Chalkbeat’s Marta Aldrich.
Guests:
- Liv Cook, former special education teacher and Public Education Campaign Organizer at the Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM)
- Barbara Long, retired Murfreesboro schoolteacher, current board member at Murfreesboro City Schools
- Freda Player, board member at MNPS
- Rep. Sam McKenzie (D-15), state legislator representing Knox County, chairman of the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators, member of the House K12 subcommittee
- Victor Evans, Executive Director of TennesseeCAN, former teacher in Memphis
- Alec MacGillis, investigative reporter with ProPublica
Further Reading and Listening:
- WPLN | Vastly different school voucher plans are advancing in Tennessee’s legislature this week. Here’s where things stand.
- News Channel 5 | REVEALED: Secret recording shows school voucher proponent talking of ‘public hangings’ of lawmakers
- Chalkbeat | Massive House proposal is third universal school voucher bill before Tennessee lawmakers
- Hechinger Report | Arizona gave families public money for private schools. Then private schools raised tuition
- ProPublica | Private Schools, Public Money: School Leaders Are Pushing Parents to Exploit Voucher Programs
- ProPublica | Voucher Program Helps Well-Off Vermonters Pay for Prep School at Public
- This Is Nashville | Checking in on Tennessee’s school voucher program
- NPR’s The Indicator from Planet Money | The evidence on school vouchers that’ll please nobody
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM