TN Lawmaker Calls Out "Bait-and-Switch" Voucher Scheme
Nashville's Hemmer is having one of Bill Lee's latest scam
TN Gov. Bill Lee is dressing up his latest voucher proposal in all kinds of fancy clothes - hoping to distract from the real goal: transferring public money to unaccountable private operators.
Rep. Caleb Hemmer of Nashville takes Lee to task for his latest attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the Tennessee taxpayer.
Hemmer on Lee’s top priority in 2025, passing a universal voucher scheme:
Once again, this new version is jam-packed with all kinds of seemingly nice things tacked on to try and distract people from the fact that this is all a scam designed to defund public education. Lee and his voucher scammers want you to pay attention to the long overdue teacher raises and the newly-dedicated funding source for school construction projects promised in the bill.
But let’s face it − if they were really serious about the proposals, they would have already done them. They wouldn’t have to tie them to a bait-and-switch scheme to designed to undermine public education and make out-of-state billionaire voucher backers happy.
Hemmer correctly notes that the $2000 one-time bonus for teachers is designed to sweeten the pot for rural lawmakers who have so far been reluctant to back vouchers.
Vote for vouchers, Lee says, and your teachers will get some more money.
But, notice, it’s a one-time bonus. It’s $2000.
Tennessee can afford to give every single teacher in the state a raise of at least $10,000 - not a bonus, a raise - an ongoing, permanent increase in base pay.
A raise of this magnitude is badly needed. Tennessee ranks 44th in the nation and among the lowest in the Southeast in teacher compensation - yes, behind even Alabama!
The state also ranks 45th in school funding.
While this one-time bonus might be nice, lawmakers should step up and make a meaningful investment in teachers.
Instead, over the past few years, Tennessee legislators have given the Titans $500 million for a stadium and given out-of-state corporations a $1.6 billion tax cut.
Hemmer also notes that school vouchers in the state’s current pilot program have not delivered on the promise of improving student achievement:
“. . . according to the Department of Education’s annual report on the pilot program, the “exceeded expectations” scores for the state’s participating Education Savings Accounts schools only grew by an average of 0.4% in math and 1.2% in English Language Arts − and far less than the margins of public schools.”
Oh, and vouchers are expensive.
Reports suggest that at full implementation, a universal voucher scheme in Tennessee could cost more than $700 million a year.
To put that in perspective, the state could raise every teacher’s pay by 20% for that same amount of money. And yes, state policymakers should make that happen.
Boosting teacher pay by 20% might help address the teacher shortage.
The Memphis-Shelby County board unanimously approved a $4.6 million contract with Texas-based Proximity Learning to obtain 100 teachers for live online teaching for middle and high school students.
The agreement would extend the district’s use of Proximity’s virtual instructors, which began in the 2018-19 school year. Those teachers, who interact live on video with students, are a stopgap as teaching positions remain open in Tennessee’s largest public school district. Without them, the district says some students would go without certified educators.
While Lee claims students in Memphis and Nashville stand to gain from vouchers, they’d certainly gain from having actual teachers in their classrooms. Still, Lee fails to aggressively pursue proven policies like improved pay.
Vouchers aren’t about students. They’re not about giving parents more options. They are about returning favors to Lee’s wealthy donors.
Voters don’t want vouchers - they’ve proven that time and again in every single state that has put them on the ballot - red and blue states - even counties that went overwhelmingly for Trump in 2024 also resoundingly rejected vouchers.
MORE EDUCATION NEWS
A Case for Expanded Pre-K and Free School Meals
A Response to Trump’s Ed Secretary Pick
Great read!