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Dark money group goes after GOP House member for opposition to Tennessee school voucher plan • Tennessee Lookout [1]

['Adam Friedman', 'More From Author', '- March']

Date: 2024-03-20

As anticipated, the push for Tennessee to adopt a statewide school voucher plan has received an extra boost from dark money political action groups.

The Tennessee affiliate of the American Federation for Children (AFC) sent a targeted text message last week attacking Rep. Todd Warner, R-Chapel Hill, for opposing vouchers.

The advertisements call out Warner for “siding with the radical Tennessee 3 against Tennessee parents” and for what AFC sees as opposition to “parental rights,” limiting health benefits for teachers and blocking millions in funding for local schools.

The AFC’s text message never mentioned the word voucher but the broad term “school choice.” Instead, it ties Warner’s opposition to the bill to also opposing the legislation’s incentives for public schools and teachers.

House Republicans created a comprehensive education bill that includes approving a statewide school voucher for around $7,000 per student in exchange for giving school districts money for new buildings and boosting teacher health benefits.

Warner, a House Education Administration Committee and K-12 subcommittee member, was the only Republican to vote against the House voucher bill in both committees.

“I’m not worried about it,” Warner said, adding the school districts and parents in his community were backing him.

Warner has been a thorn in the side of GOP leadership for years. He is not considered a moderate Republican but an anti-establishment voice. Tennessee Stands, a conservative and anti-Republican establishment group based in Williamson County, has applauded Warner’s opposition to the voucher plan.

Elizabeth BeShears, the director of communications with the American Federation for Children, said in response to emailed questions that the organization singled out Warner because he had “made himself a very vocal minority in both his party and in his district by twice voting against a bill that helps all Tennessee schools.”

“The vast majority of Tennesseans want more educational options for their families, and most of their lawmakers are listening,” BeShears said. “His constituents deserve to know he is standing in the way of strong educational options.”

The money behind American Federation for Children

For nearly 15 years, education reform groups — those who pushed for more charter schools and now vouchers — and pro-public schools advocates have combined spent around $27.1 million vying to gain influence with state lawmakers, according to a campaign finance database maintained by the Lookout.

Reform groups have significantly outspent public school advocates in recent years, particularly on independent advertisements opposing candidates.

The donors behind the education reform groups are often hard to track, but when discovered, they are usually wealthy and sometimes not based in Tennessee.

AFC’s Tennessee chapter has spent $4.9 million on lobbying, donations and independent expenditures to influence state lawmakers since 2009, the most of any education reform group. The group is a 501(c)4 organization, allowing it to hide many of the donors that fund its lobbying and political activity.

But some of the largest donors to the group’s Tennessee political action committee (PAC) are public. The top donors are Arkansas-based Walmart heir Jim Walton, Nashville lawyer Lee Barfield, Nashville businesswoman Dorothy Scarlett, Nashville businessman Lee Beaman and former U.S. Secretary of Education from Michigan Betsy Devos.

Americans for Prosperity sends out mailers, buys billboards

Another group actively advertising in favor of vouchers is the Americans for Prosperity of Tennessee (AFP). The organization has purchased billboards and sent mailers in over a dozen districts, including Warner’s, pushing voucher advocates to call their local lawmakers.

AFP’s advertisements for Warner don’t specifically call him out for opposing the plan, saying “our parents, students, and teachers deserve better,” and tell Warner to vote yes on “school choice.”

AFP is a libertarian and conservative political advocacy group affiliated with Kansas billionaire businessman Charles Koch. It first gained political power during the 2010 Tea Party Movement. The AFP is not explicitly an education reform group but advocates on numerous issues and plays an influential role in Tennessee politics, particularly in Republican primaries.

Political spending records show since 2009, the group has spent $2.4 million on lobbying and independent expenditures to influence state politics.

Bill is on track for a last-minute conference committee

The House and Senate each have a different version of the voucher legislation making their way through their respective chambers, meaning there will likely be some last-minute deal at the end of the session if any voucher plan is to pass.

Top donors, American Federation of Children, Tennessee: Lee Barfield, Nashville lawyer

Lee Beaman, Nashville businessman

Betsy DeVos, former Secretary of Education

Dorothy Scarlett, Nashville

Jim Walton, Walmart heir

The House voucher plan includes a comprehensive list of incentives intended to satisfy public school advocates, such as reduced student testing time and increased teacher health contributions. It would also give about $72.8 million to school districts for building improvements.

Leaders in the House have made it clear that the public school incentives are only available as part of a package deal with the voucher plan.

The Senate version requires voucher recipients to take tests that could be used to compare them to public school students. It would also allow public school students to enroll in any school district, even if they aren’t zoned for it, as long as there is enough space.

The differing versions of the Senate and House voucher bills must pass one more committee in each chamber before a floor vote. If the versions are different, then the chambers will be required to appoint a conference committee.

There has been almost no Republican opposition to the voucher plan in the Senate, unlike in the House. Reps. Monty Fritts, R-Kingston, and Bryan Richey, R-Maryville, along with Warner, voted against the bill in the House Education Administration Committee.

Sam Stockard contributed to this report.

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[1] Url: https://tennesseelookout.com/2024/03/20/dark-money-group-goes-after-gop-house-member-for-opposition-to-tennessee-school-voucher-plan/

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