Tennessee School Voucher Bill Clears Senate Subcommittee

Photo Credit: capitol.tn.gov

The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –

A bill that could allow parents to utilize school vouchers for private or charter schools cleared the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday. 

SB1674, sponsored by Senator Mike Bell of Riceville and Representative Michael Curcio of Dickson, would make students eligible to receive the school voucher if the public school for which they are zoned fails to offer 180 full days of in-person learning because of the pandemic.

According to state law, schools are required to provide 180 days of “quality instruction.”

If the bill passes, it would become effective on September 1, 2025. Students could receive the voucher if their school went virtual at any point during a three-year span, beginning with the 2022-2023 school year.

The original bill was amended to remove a line that allowed vouchers if a school system instituted a mask mandate, however, a provision allows students who are zoned for any school that is in the state’s Achievement School District to receive a voucher.

Bell says he believes that parents should be allowed “to choose a school that is going to meet their child’s needs.”

However, Bell states that school systems who did not return to in-person learning last year have pushed them to take measures such as this.

“We’re doing this to make sure that the schools out there, the public school system which is tasked with educating the vast majority of the students in our state, take that job seriously,” Bell said.

Bell continued, “We know that in-person learning is the most effective way to educate a child, to educate a student. We can look back to what has happened the past couple years here in the state of Tennessee. We know that there were a couple school districts, it may have been three, for whatever reason decided not to fulfill the purpose for which they were created to do, and that’s to educate our children.”

School districts are already restricted from moving their entire district to a remote platform; instead, they must request a waiver from the state Department of Education if they wish to move an individual school or classroom to temporary virtual learning.

This is not the first time Tennessee has considered an education savings account program. In 2019, Governor Bill Lee proposed such a program that would only apply to Davidson and Shelby counties.

The case is currently pending in Tennessee Supreme Court after Davidson County Chancellor Ann Martin overturned the law, saying it violated the “home rule” portion of the state constitution because it was only applicable to two counties.

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Senator Raumesh Akbari, a Democrat out of Memphis, asked Bell if his goal was to address the home rule aspect of that previous legislation. Akbari voted against the new bill.

Senator Joey Hensley, Republican from Hohenwald, also voted against the bill. Hensley stated that the focus needed to be on requiring districts to offer 180 days of in-person learning immediately.

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Senator Rusty Crowe of Johnson City abstained from the vote. Crowe said he had received concerns from his constituents and school board members. They were concerned with public money being kept within the public school system.

“I want to make sure that our parents have ultimate control and that our kids are in school, but at the same time I want to keep my word to my school boards back home,” Crowe said. “I know the bill is going to pass the committee and will probably end up on the floor.”

The bill is now headed to the Senate floor. The companion bill in the House (HB1671) has not yet been considered, but it will be looked at first by the House Education Instruction Subcommittee.

If you wish to contact your Tennessee state legislators about these bills or any other subject, you can find their contact information HERE.

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About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative  ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career.  Most recently, he served as Deputy Directory for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others.  He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History.  Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com

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