Top Legislative Privatizer Backs TISA
Key voucher backer is taking the lead on Bill Lee's school funding plan
State Rep. Mark White is tweeting out misleading information about Gov. Lee’s school funding overhaul (TISA) in an attempt to build support for the effort as the legislature enters its final weeks.
White claims that TISA will allow the General Assembly to “pour billions” into Tennessee schools.
Which is odd because we haven’t been pouring billions into public schools so far - in spite of a HUGE revenue surplus that just keeps on growing.
The TN Dept. of Finance and Administration notes:
Year-to-date revenues for six months were $2.15 billion more than the budgeted estimate. The general fund recorded $2.02 billion in revenues more than estimates, and the four other funds totaled $126.7 million more than year-to-date estimates.
As White well knows, TACIR has recommended that Tennessee add $1.7 billion to K-12 funding to address the underfunding of teachers and staff. By the way, TISA does NOT address this shortfall.
How did Tennessee reach this shortfall? That would be a great question to ask Mark White - a former teacher who chairs the House Education Administration Committee (and has for some time) and is a member of the House K-12 Subcommittee and the House Education Instruction Committee. That is to say, White exerts outsized influence on state education policy.
Oh, and White is also a chief proponent of school privatization, carrying the water for Gov. Lee’s state charter authorizer bill.
Here’s what Nashville education blogger TC Weber had to say about White back in 2020:
Well, he supported an unconstitutional voucher bill in spite of purportedly, “not liking it”. He failed to increase funding for Tennessee school districts despite the state sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars in surplus money. He supported a literacy bill that robbed LEA’s of power to choose materials and curriculum, increased testing, and called for the retention of third-graders – luckily despite his support, the bill failed to pass. He failed to substantially raise teacher salaries. Salaries have been stagnating for years.
Key Voucher Backer Gets Support from Dark Money Group Tennesseans for Student Success
Remember when then-House Speaker Glen Casada “enticed” members to vote for Gov. Bill Lee’s school voucher scheme? Remember how the FBI was (and still is) interested in Casada and others for possible bribes in order to pass the bill by a single vote?
Oh, and the hot chicken, sex, and cocaine scandal that (sort of) took Casada down?
Well, it turns out dark money groups like Tennesseans for Student Success are all in on a big payback for Casada’s “leadership.” You see, Casada is now running for the six-figure job of Williamson County Clerk. Phil Williams has the story.
More on Tennesseans for Student Success and their ties to legalized loan sharks:
TeamKid PAC: The Not So Super Hero