MEMPHIS, Tennessee — Suburban district leaders spoke out against school choice and the proposed expansion of Gov. Bill Lee's school voucher program.
Germantown schools superintendent Jason Manuel said in a TikTok video Sunday night that the proposed expansion sends taxpayer money to private schools that aren't beholden to state law.
"Research shows negative impacts on students and a lack of accountability," Manuel said of Lee's school voucher program.
Manuel is one of the latest school district leaders to disapprove of Lee's school voucher program.
Shelby County Democrats also have some concerns over the effectiveness of the program and Arlington Community Schools.
Suburban district leaders in Arlington also issued a joint statement Monday 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.”
Lee touts the initiative as giving parents more control and options.
"Parents know what's best for their child as it relates to education," Lee said last week as he officially announced this program.
Under the current system, during the program's trial run here in Shelby County last school year, the cheapest private school is Elliston Baptist Academy, where tuition is $2,700 a year.
The average tuition in Shelby County is $10,000, with St. Mary's Episcopal School being the most expensive with tuition at $23,950 a year.
The voucher maxes out at $7,300 a year. That means at the lowest cost of tuition, parents must still figure out how to cover the remaining $2,700. On the higher end of education, a more than $16,000 bill is left after the school voucher is applied.