MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The chair of the Memphis-Shelby County Schools Board of Education is asking Tennessee lawmakers and Gov. Bill Lee to reconsider an expansion of the state’s school voucher program.
The Tennessee Education Savings Account (ESA) Program was originally approved in 2019 and is applicable in only three of the state’s 95 counties – Shelby, Davidson, and Hamilton. It awards eligible families around $8,100 in public tax dollars to help cover private school tuition and other preapproved expenses.
In November, Lee announced a plan to expand the program statewide, regardless of family income.
Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023, Althea Greene, the chair of the MSCS Board of Education, issued a statement opposing any expansion, saying diverting public money from public schools was not best for Tennessee’s students.
“The Shelby County Board of Education aims to provide the best education to students from all walks of life who attend our schools. We are vehemently opposed to the state of Tennessee’s school voucher program and the proposed expansion. Statistics show school vouchers would move much-needed financial resources from public schools to private schools. We need those public resources for those students who must attend public schools. Research has not shown that vouchers improve student academic performance; therefore, diverting public funding from public schools is not in the best interest of all Tennessee students. We respectfully ask Governor Lee and the Tennessee State Legislature to reconsider this voucher expansion program.”
Other Mid-South education leaders have also spoken out against the plan.
"Research shows negative impacts on students and a lack of accountability," said Germantown schools superintendent Jason Manuel said in a TikTok video.
Suburban district leaders in Arlington also issued a joint statement calling the program "a sham", saying, in part, “Vouchers are the state’s way of slowly defunding public schools while using your tax dollars to prop up private businesses.”
"It takes funds out of our school system. And we hire teachers. We turn the lights on. We have school buildings. We do everything we need to run do to run a school system, and these vouchers have made funds available to take children out of our schools, so we lose that funding,” said Collierville Schools Chairman Wright Cox as the Board of the Mayor and Aldermen passed a joint resolution with Collierville Schools opposing the expansion plan.
The new program Lee is proposing would make 20,000 education scholarships available next year, with half going to students who are lower income, disabled or otherwise able to participate in the current program. The remaining 10,000 would be available to any student entitled to attend a public school.
"Tennessee's Education Freedom Scholarships will empower parents with the freedom to choose the right education for their child, while also giving them a say in how their taxpayer dollars are invested," the governor said in a news release.
Beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, Lee is proposing universal eligibility for any student entitled to attend a public school. If applications exceed available scholarship money, priority will go to lower income, public-school and returning scholarship students.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.