TENNESSEE, USA — The Tennessee Court of Appeals reversed last week a lower court decision that dismissed a lawsuit challenging the state’s private school voucher law, according to an announcement released Friday morning.
The court said plaintiffs in McEwen v. Lee have the right to challenge the voucher law and the trial court should listen to the case now, the press release said. The decision was made Jan. 10.
Passed in 2019, the voucher law permits public funds to be used for private education, including tuition for private schools not subject to the same quality, accountability, and anti-discrimination standards as public schools. Tennessee began applying the voucher program in the 2022-23 school year.
According to the press release, public school parents and community members in Shelby and Davidson counties filed against the law in 2020, stating that the program illegally uses taxpayer funds budgeted for public schools in those counties for private education.
They also said the program violates the Tennessee Constitution and state law and worsens the underfunding of public schools in the two targeted school districts.
The defendants of the voucher programs said the plaintiffs were not appropriate parties to bring a lawsuit against the program and it was not time yet for the court to hear the case, claiming that the public school districts had not lost funding yet. The lower court had agreed with them.
The case was sent back to the Chancery Court for additional proceedings.
