(C) Tennessee Lookout
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Critics fear voucher expansion could hit multiple counties – Tennessee Lookout [1]

['Sam Stockard', 'More From Author', '- December']

Date: 2022-12-13

Two key House members confirmed they will bring legislation in 2023 to spread the state’s Education Savings Account program to Hamilton County, a move that could launch expansion into two other counties as well.

House Education Administration Committee Chairman Mark White told the Tennessee Lookout this week he plans to sponsor the House version of the bill after Sen. Todd Gardenhire of Chattanooga requested his help in passing the legislation.

“… Being a voucher proponent, I said if you want it in Hamilton County, I wouldn’t mind carrying it,” White said. He had not read the language yet and was uncertain whether it could affect other counties.

House Finance, Ways and Means Committee Chairlady Patsy Hazlewood also confirmed she would co-sponsor the legislation, even though she requested Hamilton County be removed before the House narrowly passed a voucher bill in 2019.

Then-Speaker Glen Casada held the vote board open for nearly 45 minutes to work the chamber for a tie-breaker. Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, finally changed his vote in support of the bill with the understanding that Knox County Schools would be removed as a voucher district.

Approved by the Tennessee Supreme Court after being found unconstitutional in two lower courts, the program provides about $8,000 for qualifying students in Metro Nashville and Shelby County school districts to enroll in private schools. The state has approved 528 applicants for those two districts out of more than 1,000 applications.

Hazlewood, R-Signal Mountain, explained that she wanted Hamilton County Schools removed from the voucher bill three years ago because the district had just started a plan with a special advisory board using additional funds to remove schools from the state’s failing list.

Hazlewood said in a text statement she felt the school district should be given a chance to improve those schools. But nearly four years later, the number of failing schools has increased, she said, noting the local plan failed in either planning or executing the program or both.

“Now that the TISA formula is in place ensuring that the money follows the child, it only seems fair that Hamilton County students who are zoned for these failing schools should have a chance at a higher quality education as do those in Shelby and Davidson,” she said.

Hazlewood’s statement referred to the state’s new K-12 education funding formula, which sets a base amount per child and uses other factors to impact spending.

Voucher opponents argued last year that Gov. Bill Lee’s new funding formula was designed to bolster the Education Savings Account program.

Hamilton County Schools did not ask Gardenhire to sponsor the legislation. A spokesman for the district would not say Tuesday whether Hamilton County Schools opposes or supports the bill, only that it monitors all education-related bills and would have “ongoing conversation” with lawmakers.

Gardenhire said last week his legislation, Senate Bill 12, is designed for Hamilton County. It would expand the eligibility to include students zoned to a school district with at least five schools – not 10 as written for Metro Nashville and Shelby – in the bottom 10% of the state’s schools in 2017 and identified as priority schools (in the bottom 5%) in 2015, 2018 and 2021.

If the cumulative number of schools for those categories are taken into consideration, then Knox and Madison school districts could become voucher systems. Those were two of three removed from the 2019 bill in order to pass it in the House and Senate.

White said Monday he was uncertain whether the language would allow expansion to Knox and Madison counties but noted he would let lawmakers who represent those two school districts determine whether students there should be eligible for vouchers.

Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, and Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, both oppose vouchers in Knox County.

“We know that their goal is to broaden them to all counties and then also to include any socioeconomic group,” Johnson said.

She said she plans to continue opposing the spread of the Education Savings Account program, contending that nowhere in the nation do voucher students perform better than their public school peers.

Johnson noted she recently attended a conference in which Arizona representatives talked about “what a disaster” the state’s voucher program became, especially after it was expanded to students of every income level.

Briggs said this week he needs to look at the legislation’s details but questioned whether vouchers would apply to students in priority and failing schools or to other students in the district. The current law applies to students categorized as low-income, but they don’t have to attend one of the district’s struggling schools.

In his own polling, Briggs said he found Knox County doesn’t favor vouchers. The Knox County legislative delegation appears to be split on the matter, he said.

Briggs supports charter schools, which are considered part of public school systems and are usually run by private, nonprofit groups. A charter operator is proposing to start a K-8 all-boys school that would be housed in the old Knoxville College building, sort of a college prep school.

But he argues that Knox County has done a good job of providing students with options to attend schools out of their zone, including an international baccalaureate program at West High School, a STEM Academy for students focusing on math and engineering and a career magnet academy connected with Pellissippi Community College.

“My concern has always been the schools that are left and the kids,” Briggs said, because they have to provide their own transportation. “You’ve taken enough money and it makes the bad schools worse.”

House Speaker Cameron Sexton, a Crossville Republican who voted against the voucher bill at least twice in 2019, was non-committal when asked about expansion to Hamilton and potentially Knox and Madison counties. He made a statement saying, “Every House member can file up to 15 bills; ultimately, the committee process will determine whether any proposed legislation passes, fails, or is amended.”

Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican who represents part of Knox County, appears to be more favorable toward the expansion of vouchers.

Spokesman Adam Kleinheider said McNally “has consistently supported school choice throughout the years and appreciates Sen. Gardenhire’s efforts in moving the conversation forward.”







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