A draft bill on Gov. Bill Lee’s private school voucher plan was posted on the General Assembly web site and then removed Monday. The bill still has time to be amended, but many who saw the draft have noted recipients would receive more money than the state spends on some public school students.
When asked about the unequal balance Thursday, House Speaker Cameron Sexton said the state can support both public and private education. But Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, says his party is against the plan.
“Taking any of that money away from programs that address ACES (Adverse Childhood Experiences Study) or address poverty and hunger and all these things of our communities and giving coupons to the wealthy to send their children to private school is going to be met with fierce resistance,” said Clemmons.
Clemmons and other Democrats also pointed out that Tennessee ranks near the bottom 10 states in the country for per student spending, according to a report from the Education Data Initiative last year. That report was released before the state’s new school funding formula took effect.
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