School voucher advocates are pushing for the implementation of the Tennessee program while an appeals court decides on its future.
The emergency motion filed Thursday by two libertarian groups on behalf of four parents acknowledges the state’s tight rollout deadline.
Earlier this month, a Nashville chancellor deemed the Education Savings Accounts Act unenforceable, because it violates the state’s “home rule” amendment, since it applied to only two counties without their consent.
In the latest emergency motion, the Beacon Center of Tennessee and the Institute for Justice argued the amendment was misapplied because the voucher law doesn’t apply to school districts.
More: Read the motion here.
Now they want the Tennessee Court of Appeals to allow for the implementation and rollout of school vouchers while it decides whether the program is constitutional.
“There is no reason to halt implementation of the ESA Pilot Program now, nearly one year after it was passed, before this Court has had the opportunity to resolve the novel issues before it,” the motion reads. “Doing so would result in irreparable harm to Parents and their children.”
The state has said that the time between now and June 15 is crucial to being able to launch the program this fall.
The Court of Appeal’s has yet to schedule a date for a hearing.
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