Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is launching an ambitious effort to take school choice statewide on Tuesday, and he'll have some company for the announcement in Nashville.
With Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in tow, along with supportive legislators and families, Lee is announcing the Education Freedom Scholarship Act, which his office says will "extend school choice to every family across rural and urban Tennessee communities, putting parents at the forefront of their child’s education" and giving them all access to the best school for them. Sanders signed an expansive school choice voucher bill into law for Arkansas in March, calling it a "transformational education plan."
"When I ran for Governor, I said every Tennessean deserves access to a good job, a great school, and a safe neighborhood," Lee told Fox News Digital in a statement. "We’ve made great strides in education, but there is more work to do. To ensure Tennessee continues to lead the nation, it’s time for a statewide school choice plan that empowers parents, equips students for success, and allows Tennessee taxpayers to decide how their own dollars are invested."
"The Education Freedom Scholarship Act will empower Tennessee parents with the freedom to pick the right school for their child, while giving families a choice where their taxpayer dollars are spent," according to a memo obtained by Fox News Digital.
The current pilot program, called the Education Savings Account (ESA), has more than 3,400 families applying to join, and more than 2,400 students enrolled in participating non-public schools, according to the memo. The participating students get about $9,000 a year to attend eligible private schools, according to NewsChannel 5.
The proposal could change during the legislative process, but Lee's plan calls for 20,000 scholarships to be made available to Tennessee students, including "10,000 scholarships for students who are at or below 300% of the federal poverty level, have a disability, or are eligible for the existing pilot program," and an additional 10,000 scholarships "available to a universal pool of students entitled to attend a public school," according to the governor's office.
They would get a little more than $7,000 in vouchers for the 2024-25 school year, with eligible expenses including private school tuition, fees, and uniforms required by the private school, textbooks, curricula, and instructional materials required by the private school, tutoring services, and computer hardware. By the following school year, the proposal would have "universal eligibility for all Tennessee students entitled to attend a public school, prioritizing currently enrolled students, low-income and public school students if demand exceeds available funding."
Among those in attendance at Lee's announcement Tuesday will be Arieale Munson, a Memphis-based activist and single mother of two children. Her younger son, who has a goal to be a paleontologist, attends an expensive private school through the ESA program, and while a Democrat, Munson is standing with the Republican governor on this issue.
"I feel like a parent should have the right to make a choice for their child's education, and they shouldn't be limited to resources based off other people's beliefs," she told Fox News Digital. "And as you know, the parent is looking for the best welfare of their child, so they should be able to make a choice for their child… I feel like it's my duty to advocate for better resources for our community."
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School choice advocates, like American Federation For Children Senior Fellow Corey DeAngelis, argue that school choice is a "revolution" that started across the country because it is natural for parents to want a say in what their children learn in school.
"Tennessee will get school choice and there's nothing the teachers unions can do about it. School choice is on the Republican Party platform and Republicans have supermajority control over both chambers of the legislature. Governor Bill Lee is an education freedom fighter and has made universal school choice a priority. Tennessee parents will win in 2024," DeAngelis told Fox News Digital.
Relations between teachers unions, which frequently oppose school choice measures, and parents have soured in recent years, particularly in response to academic slowdowns across the U.S. in the wake of COVID-19-related school closures.
Widespread calls for school choice and parental rights have emerged after states implemented lockdown measures during the coronavirus pandemic. School choice became a salient issue after the COVID-19-induced lockdowns sparked a conversation on the scope of the government’s authority and the type of content that should be taught to children from public school curricula.
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Lee's proposal certainly has its detractors; NewsChannel 5 reported, "The plan — which critics argue would upend traditional public schools all across the state — would even provide funding for students to attend unaccredited private schools with little track record of success."
"Critics have warned that the expansion of school vouchers would lead to the consolidation of traditional community schools across the state, including in rural areas," the report added.
Some Democrats say that the plan will only serve to hurt public schools.
"If you’re a Tennessean who cares about the future of our state then you’re opposed to vouchers. It will destroy public ed and raise your taxes- the only winners are out-of-state private investors- your tax $ will go to them while our kids lose the opportunity for a better future," Democratic State Sen. Heidi Campbell wrote on X last week.
Lee said the ideas aren't mutually exclusive.
"I've always believed that Tennessee should strive to have the best public school system in the country and provide choices for families. These two ideas are not in conflict, and conservative states across the country are proof," he said.
Fox News' Joshua Q. Nelson and Cortney O'Brien contributed to this report.
