One month after the launch of an online portal that provides some Tennessee families with educational options including funding to send their children to private schools, Gov. Bill Lee is giving the program high marks.
About 600 students in two Tennessee counties, Davidson and Shelby, have applied for an education savings account; 60 have been approved.
Their path toward program eligibility has been circuitous.
Davidson and Shelby county governments sued in wake of the legislation’s passage, saying education savings accounts violate the state constitution’s home rule provision. A trial court and the appellate court ruled in their favor, but the state Supreme Court overturned those decisions, allowing the program to move forward.
At the time, school choice supporters, including Tennessee Sen. Brian Kelsey, cheered the high court’s ruling.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for low-income children in Memphis and Nashville,” Kelsey said. “They will get scholarships with as much as $7,000 or $8,000 dollars a year to go to a school of their choice that will accept them, and that includes private schools. So, it’s really a thrilling opportunity for these students and parents.”
With the program being the centerpiece of his 2019 legislative agenda, Gov. Lee celebrated the Supreme Court’s 3-2 decision.
“Every child deserves a high-quality education, and today’s Tennessee Supreme Court opinion on ESAs puts parents in Memphis and Nashville one step closer to finding the best educational fit for their children,” said Lee’s statement.
But Lee’s plan to offer school choice still divides those who are committed to improving education in Tennessee.
“I was very disappointed with the court’s decision,” Memphis-Shelby County School Board chairwoman Michelle Robinson-McKissack said. “I just don’t believe public taxpayer dollars should be going to pay for someone else’s private school education.”
Among the 600 students who applied for an education savings account, Lee said, is a child whose father recently died.
“Another student who applied is in foster care and life just hasn’t been easy for him,” Lee said. He dreams of becoming a veterinarian and he thinks he would benefit from a smaller class size, and he should have that benefit.”
Tennessee has long been a battleground in what has become a national fight between those who are in favor of using taxpayer money to give parents more education choices and others who claim doing so diverts money from public schools.
Among allies in Lee’s fight to move forward on education savings accounts has been the American Federation for Children, which organized a meeting in July between the governor and about 45 private school leaders from the Memphis area.
