Voucher Proposal Meets Resistance

Opposition to Lee's proposed expansion of vouchers is strong and swift

Photo by Redd F on Unsplash

Last week, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced a massive expansion of the state’s school voucher program, with a stated goal of universal access to school vouchers by 2025.

Lee suggested both an expansion of the state’s current Education Savings Account (ESA) vouchers and a new voucher program.

The ESA vouchers are currently only operating in Memphis, Nashville, and Chattanooga - but Lee wants them everywhere.

Additionally, he’s proposing a separate fund for a voucher worth $7000 to be used by any family for private school tuition or related expenses.

There was a preview of the vision for full-scale school privatization in the last legislative session:

On the Agenda: Statewide School Privatization

Lee wants vouchers even though results in other states and early results in Tennessee show they offer little in the way of improved academic achievement.

Vouchers are Expensive and Ineffective

Almost as soon as Lee announced his plan, strong resistance emerged. Notably, the announcement was made without Lee being flanked by a number of legislative voucher supporters. That’s likely due to the political risk associated with support for using public funds for unaccountable private schools.

Here’s a sampling of the opposition:

Southern Christian Coalition:

“If Governor Lee claims the Christian faith, and we know he does, then he must change course and start to prioritize the education of every Tennessee child by fully funding our public schools and end this voucher scheme that would create even more inequity in Tennessee schools.”

Tennessee PTA:

In order to ensure that taxes support every child’s education, we must maintain our commitment to a free educational system while also ensuring those in charge of managing the funds are responsible and transparent in their actions.

Tennessee Education Association:

Taking taxpayer dollars to fund private school tuition statewide would divert resources from our already underfunded public schools and threaten the strength of TN communities. Less funding will put beloved neighborhood schools at risk for closure.

Tennessee Teacher of the Year (2023-24) Missy Testerman:

TN ranks 44th in per pupil spending. It would be nice to have leaders who recognize that public education is the bedrock of civilization and who commit to fully funding the one entity that supports all students who walk through its doors, even when resources are scarce.

State Senator Jeff Yarbro:

Here’s the state budget issue (even if you like the idea of vouchers). Paying $7,075 for every student in private school or registered home school today would cost over $790 million annually—not $141.5 million. That’s if zero kids in public schools today use a voucher.