Opposition to School Voucher Expansion & Rejection of Federal Education Funding Launches Statewide Campaign

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The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –

A group called Statewide Organizing for Community Empowerment (SOCM), has launched a statewide campaign to oppose rejection of federal education funds and any further expansion of Tennessee’s Education Savings Account (ESA) voucher program.

As part of their “Public School Strong” campaign, SOCM has organized groups in 10 different counties to attend public school board meetings in order to familiarize themselves with local funding needs.

Despite recent conversation about whether the state can afford to reject federal education funds and the strings that are attached to that money, some individuals like SOCM Executive Director Austin Sauerbrei, remain strongly opposed to the idea.

“It’s really frightening for folks that more public money is going to be directed out of our local school districts,” stated Sauerbrei. “We’re really interested in making sure that we have a legislature that’s actually fighting to increase the budgets of local school districts.”

“If, as Speaker Sexton says, there’s an extra $1.8 billion of state funding available that will allow us to get rid of the federal funds…can we actually invest that $1.8 billion and add it to the budgets instead of removing federal funding?” Sauerbrei continued.

Liv Cook, the organizer behind SOCM’s campaign, offered up similar sentiments.

“We know that the federal funding that we do get is already spread thin. Why are we having a conversation of taking it away?” asked Cook. “We don’t need to create a crisis of public education. We need to fix what’s already wrong with the budget.”

However, supporters of school choice and voucher programs would argue that Tennessee is already dealing with a “crisis of public education” and doesn’t need to be funneling anymore taxpayer funds into a broken system.

Tennessee’s school choice pilot program was approved by the state legislature back in 2019. Once it was signed into law, the five-year pilot was held up in court over questions of constitutionality.

The program was ruled constitutional right before the start of the ’22-’23 school year and remains highly controversial. 

As recently as the 2023 legislative session, some state lawmakers still did not fully understand its set up.

“A lot of students by that time last year had already picked their schools – it was three weeks before school started,” said Lacy Tolar with Lighthouse Christian Academy. “People weren’t really looking to switch schools.”

During that first year of the ESA pilot program, around 450 students enrolled in private schools through the program. 

Currently, Tennessee’s school voucher program offers almost $9,000 in state funds to qualifying low-income and middle-income students who reside in Davidson, Shelby, and Hamilton counties.

This year, over 3,400 students applied to the program and 2,581 of them have been approved so far. Of those enrolled in the pilot program, 1,370 are in Shelby County, 921 are in Nashville, and 290 are in Hamilton County.

The intent is for these students to use the funds for tuition, uniforms, technology, and transportation necessary for them to attend accredited private and religious schools of their choice.

While parents of students in the ESA pilot program are largely satisfied with the results according to a department parent satisfaction survey, reports of standardized test scores have caused some to question the efficacy of the program.

Proponents of the public education system argue that the program takes taxpayer dollars away from underfunded public-school districts in favor of sending more funds into private and religious schools.

“Everything education-focused up here [at the capitol] is designed to steer taxpayer dollars into private hands,” stated Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville), “whether it be through the charter school commission overreach, overriding local officials and LEAs, whether it be this voucher program,”

However, House Education Committee Chair Mark White (R-Memphis), is already planning to propose expansion of the ESA program when the state legislature convenes this upcoming January.

“Students are our customers, and we’ve got to perform for our students,” said White. “I’m a big believer in parental choice and educational opportunity.”

Through its statewide campaign, SOCM will continue to fully oppose these attempts at school voucher expansion. The Tennessee Education Association has pledged to do the same.

About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.