Local schools relieved to see school voucher bill death
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Public schools in Washington County, Tennessee see the failed status of Governor Bill Lee’s proposed school voucher bill as good news. The program may not be off the table for long, however, as a Northeast Tennessee lawmaker said there are plans for the bill to be refined and re-introduced next legislative session.
The bill died for this legislative session Monday after both the Tennessee Senate and House of Representatives were unable to negotiate on certain stipulations.
“So disappointed obviously that it didn’t happen this year,” said Senator Jon Lundberg (R – Bristol). “[The school voucher bill] will be back in [2025].”
Senator Lundberg is the chair of the Tennessee Education Committee and has been a strong proponent of the program. He said there were two versions of the bill in both the House and Senate, and both versions had substantial differences.
Lundberg said while the House had some elements of school choice in the bill, that version was more focused on education reform. The Senate bill, he said, was focused almost entirely on school choice.
“The funny part is, people have asked me, ‘Describe the Senate version of this bill,'” Lundberg said. “And it’s candidly one I can describe in 10 seconds.”
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According to Lundberg, the Senate bill wording stated if the student had the funds in their account, then they could go to a school of their choosing, whether that be public, private or charter. Then, the student would have accountability measures and would have to take a test.
The House voucher bill went into education reform from infrastructure for schools to insurance reduction in accountability and testing, among others.
“The House version was about 19 pages, included a lot more things in it,” said Lundberg. “I think they came at it from a different way.”
Lundberg believes the differences in the bills ultimately led to the legislation’s downfall.
“I think [the school voucher program] will be a good thing,” said Lundberg. “I think people years from now will realize this is the right policy for Tennessee.”
Public school systems like Johnson City Schools have voiced disapproval of the program. Those who oppose the voucher program claim it disadvantages public schools by cutting funding.
“I think this conversation that happened this year shows that there’s a long way to go before anyone’s comfortable with a voucher program,” said the chair of the Johnson City Board of Education, Kathy Hall. “That public education needs funding. They need support from our legislators. And if there’s going to be money shared with private institutions, they should be held to the same standards as public schools.”
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Washington County Schools leadership echoed Johnson City Schools’ sentiment and has heard the rumors that the voucher bill could come up again.
“We look forward to those continued discussions, but not at the expense of public education that serves almost a million students across the state of Tennessee,” said Jerry Boyd, Superintendent of Washington County Schools.
Both school systems hope to continue having conversations about the issue with legislators and believe the involvement of public schools in the process is critical.
“Most people that I’ve talked to are not in favor of a voucher program, and they were vocal and that helped,” said Hall. “If we continue to do that, we’ll be successful.”
Senator Lundberg said leaders from both the House and Senate plan to create a committee this summer of five people to put a plan in place to re-introduce the school voucher bill next legislative session.
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