After months of anticipation and conversations with lawmakers, Gov. Bill Lee’s school voucher proposal is coming before legislative committees this week, and multiple versions are on the table.
A House proposal would make sweeping changes to Tennessee’s K-12 system, while another in the Senate would require testing for students to participate. Republicans say the competing proposals are a normal part of the law-making process. It’s unclear what portions of each bill may make it into a final draft. Meanwhile Democrats remain steadfastly opposed to any bill that includes school vouchers, saying it will drain funding from the already stressed public school system.
House Republicans introduced a 39-page amendment Monday, and by Tuesday it cleared its first hurdle, passing in the House K-12 subcommittee.
In addition to establishing a program to put state dollars toward the costs of attending private school, the bill would change state-mandated standardized testing, reform teacher evaluations and put more state money toward funding teacher health insurance. Last week, House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, said voucher discussions had led him and fellow House Republicans to consider how to add more “flexibility” across Tennessee’s K-12 system.
“There’s a lot of stuff that’s in there that we’ve heard from school superintendents and from teachers over the last probably decade that will be in this bill,” Lamberth said.
But Democrats say the bill unnecessarily bundles reforms and funding with vouchers.
“They’re trying to use all those things not to benefit our public schools or to benefit teachers. They’re trying to buy votes,” said Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. John Ray Clemmons of Nashville. “And so they’re just throwing in everything they can to try to get enough votes to pass the voucher scam.“
What’s in the House version?
The voucher proposal in the House bill significantly changes how the awards would be prioritized and lays out how the total number of vouchers might be increased on a yearly basis. Additionally, it opens up universal eligibility for so-called “Education Freedom Scholarships” starting in the 2024-2025 school year, with prioritization for students eligible for the state’s current voucher programs and families with incomes at 400% and 500% of the federal poverty level. Lee’s proposal had earmarked half of the initial 20,000 vouchers for lower income students and current voucher-eligible students.
In one way, eligibility is actually more narrow than in the other proposals. The House version requires that an “eligible student” be a U.S. citizen.
The House version requires the Tennessee Department of Education to file an annual report on the program. It would compile information on how many students apply, enroll and return to the program, as well as parent satisfaction and “academic performance indicators” for recipients. The proposal does not require testing for voucher recipients.
However the majority of the bill is dedicated to a wide variety of other state education policies. The bill would increase the funding weight for small school systems in the state’s funding formula. It would also up Tennessee’s contribution to teachers’ health insurance plans. And under the proposal, teachers with high evaluation scores would get evaluated less frequently.
For students, the bill would offer new pathways to fifth grade for fourth graders at risk of being held back by Tennessee’s reading retention law. It also opens the door to a new statewide standardized test, replacing the current Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program.
The bill would wind down the state-run Achievement School District, which had been created to turn around failing schools. Chalkbeat reports the district has largely failed to accomplish that goal. The omnibus bill would shut it down by July 2026.
Several Members of the House K-12 Education Subcommittee raised concerns about how little time they had between receiving the bill and voting on it.
“Let’s have some transparency here. Let’s let people look at this bill,” said Rep. Todd Warner, R-Chapel Hill.
Rep. Mark White, R-Memphis, who presented the bill, said it had been going through a rewrite, and that sponsors were eager to get it in front of the committee.
Blaise Gainey WPLN NewsSenate Majority Leader Jack Johnson and Senate Education Chairman Jon Lundberg have filed competing versions of a statewide school voucher program. Lawmakers expect it will take several weeks to work out a compromise bill.
Rep. Bryan Richey, R-Maryville, said he is in favor of expanding school choice in Tennessee, but takes issue with the language of the House bill. Richey also mentioned the presence of Speaker Pro Tempore Pat Marsh on the subcommittee “to make sure that we have the votes to ram it through.”
Marsh is not a sitting member of the committee, but under House rules the speaker or speaker pro tempore can vote on any standing committee.
Warner called for a vote to delay voting on the bill until next week. That vote failed 4-6. The proposal passed the subcommittee 6-2, with Warner and Rep. Sam McKenzie, the sole Democrat on the committee, voting against. Richey and Rep. Chris Hurt, R-Halls, abstained from the vote.
Governor and Senate proposals significantly more narrow
Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson is carrying the governor’s voucher proposal, which closely mirrors the language in a bill accidentally filed earlier this session.
Also on the Senate side, Sen. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, is taking a different approach. His amendment would require testing for students who participate in the program. The governor’s proposal had not included a way to measure student performance. This version of the bill would also let students use vouchers to enroll in out-of-district schools, subject to some restrictions, like if a district doesn’t have capacity.
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