Image Credit: Dennis Beavers & Canva
Note from The Tennessee Conservative: Editorial statements in this column are the sole opinion of the author; they do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the staff of this publication.
Submitted by Dennis Beavers, Candidate for State Senate, District 1 –
Think about your favorite teacher growing up. Think about the school bus that picked you up, or the Friday night sports games that brought your whole town together. In rural East Tennessee, our public schools are the heart of our communities. Across Rhea, Meigs, McMinn, and Bradley counties, our schools give every child a fair shot at a bright future.
We have something truly special here. Most of our local teachers come from excellent, high-quality Christian colleges right in our region. Institutions like Tennessee Wesleyan University, Bryan College, and Lee University graduate educators with deep roots, strong religious backgrounds, and excellent credentials. These teachers pour their faith, values, and hard work into our kids every single day. Our community should be lifted up for supporting such a high standard of education.
Unfortunately, the state legislature’s new universal voucher plan, the Education Freedom Scholarship Act, threatens to change that. I believe we need to protect what makes our local schools great, rather than shifting our hard-earned tax dollars into an unaccountable system.
First, let’s talk about accountability and your hard-earned tax dollars. The state just gave a giant, multi-million-dollar contract increase to an out-of-state private technology company from Indiana to run the online voucher system. This pushes their total contract limit to nearly $637 million. Why are we sending hundreds of millions of tax dollars to an out-of-state corporation—especially one that was fired by the state of Arkansas for doing a bad job? This is a recipe for fraud, waste, and financial corruption. That money belongs in our local classrooms, not in the pockets of out-of-state tech executives.
Second, the voucher law lets taxpayer money go to unvetted “microschools.” These are tiny private popup schools that do not have to follow the same rules as public schools. Worst of all, the law says these schools do not even have to hire certified teachers. Think about that. Your tax dollars can fund a classroom where the person teaching math or reading doesn’t have a teaching license, a college degree, or any formal training at all. We wouldn’t let an unqualified or inexperienced mechanic fix a school bus, so why would we let unqualified or inexperienced individual run a classroom?
Third, we must look at where this taxpayer money is actually allowed to go. Because the state voucher program has zero restrictions on religious institutions, public tax dollars from our counties are legally cleared to fund private Islamic and Muslim schools across Tennessee. For a community rooted in traditional West and East Tennessee Christian values, sending rural tax dollars to subsidize religious education that does not align with our local faith is a step backwards.
Furthermore, our independent, homeschooling families in East Tennessee do not want these vouchers. Homeschool parents are incredibly proud of their independence. They know that when you take government money, government control follows right behind it. They don’t want the state tracking their private choices or forcing standardized testing into their living rooms. True freedom means keeping the government out of the home, not inviting them in with a voucher check.
When a student leaves a public school in a rural county using a voucher, the public school loses funding. But the school still has to pay for the same school buses, the same electricity, and the same building maintenance. The school simply has less money left over to educate the kids who remain. That may be fine for Williamson county and their friends on 6th Avenue North in Nashville, but this state program simply isn’t built for the rural communities that produces the goods and pays the taxes.
What’s more, the initial voucher numbers prove it. McMinn County has only 148 vouchers, Bradley County has only 88, Meigs County has only 10, and Rhea County – didn’t have a single one. Our families aren’t using this program because we already have excellent local schools and independent homeschools. Why is Nashville spending hundreds of millions of your tax dollars on a massive out-of-state contract for a program that doesn’t even serve rural counties? It is wasteful government spending at its worst.
I am running for State Senate because it’s time for District 1 to speak to Nashville—not the other way around. I believe the families of Bradley, McMinn, Meigs, and Rhea counties deserve a leader who values our local, faith-driven teachers and protects our rural way of life. If you want a senator who will work tirelessly for true fiscal accountability, high standards, and keeping your tax dollars right here at home, the you can trust that I will be that candidate….that I’ll be busy fighting for us…as busy as a beaver.
