Cottle also wants to point out another factor. Florida used to run a huge budget surplus, but now it’s running a deficit. Cottle and others are trying to raise an alarm about math instruction and the need to improve math instruction, particularly by recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers. But the “still-growing budget for school choice vouchers is surely competing for money with ideas for initiatives to improve student learning, and the voucher budget is winning.”
In Tennessee, we should be alarmed:
Over the course of the next five years, as state funding is gobbled up by a privatization scheme and local taxes increase even as services offered remain the same or decrease, we can look back on this moment as the nail in the coffin of Tennessee public education.
Gov. Bill Lee won – and a generation of Tennessee students will lose as a result.
Tennessee’s public education system is under siege by wealthy conservative oligarchs, including former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who are bankrolling Republican leaders to push school vouchers. Ultra-wealthy conservatives have made dismantling public education their mission, even descending upon Washington ready to disband the U.S. Department of Education.
Unlike former secretary Betsy DeVos or some of the contenders like Tiffany Justice and Erika Donalds, McMahon has not spent most of her adult life trying to devise and implement ways to dismantle and privatize public education. (And at age 76, she is a decade older than DeVos–one more aging boomer in this administration). I’m not saying that won’t be part of her policy objectives. It’s just that she won’t enter office with a whole suitcase of explosives already packed.
In 2018, Arizona voters overwhelmingly rejected school vouchers. On the ballot that year was a measure that would have allowed all parents — even the wealthiest ones — to receive taxpayer money to send their kids to private, typically religious schools.
Arizonans voted no, and it wasn’t close. Even in a right-leaning state, with powerful Republican leaders supporting the initiative, the vote against it was 65% to 35%.
This year, voters in Colorado, Nebraska, and Kentucky rejected vouchers. In Kentucky, the margin was 2-1 against vouchers – and all 120 counties in Kentucky opposed a ballot initiative that would have allowed vouchers.
While the results of last week’s election indicate a closely divided nation on many issues, support for public schools is a consistent winner. And, when asked – in blue states and red states and in rural and urban areas – voters reject school vouchers.
Within hours of the recent election’s conclusion in Tennessee, Gov. Bill Lee’s top legislative allies filed their top priority legislation for 2025: School Vouchers.
This despite vouchers being overwhelmingly rejected by voters in states like Kentucky, Colorado, and Nebraska.
Yes, while Kentucky voted about 2-1 for Donald Trump, they also voted 2-1 AGAINST a ballot initiative that would have allowed public funds to be spent on private schools by way of vouchers.
Vouchers were rejected in all 120 of Kentucky’s counties.
And still, Gov. Lee and his associates continue to push for a universal voucher scheme in our state.
“Once again, Tennessee Republicans are pushing an expansion of their failed private school voucher scheme. This isn’t about improving education; it’s about diverting public dollars away from underfunded public schools to private institutions that are unaccountable to taxpayers and don’t serve every student. Vouchers are a scam — they aren’t working to improve student outcomes here in Tennessee, nor have they succeeded at this scale anywhere else in the country.”
The Tennessee PTA has joined the many voices expressing opposition to school vouchers.
In order to ensure that taxes support every child’s education, we must maintain our commitment to a free educational system while also ensuring those in charge of managing the funds are responsible and transparent in their actions.
The group adopted an official position opposing vouchers in 2022. That position reads in part:
The Tennessee PTA advocates that funds raised by general taxation for educational purposes should be administered by public officials and should not be used to support privately operated schools . . .
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has never been a fan of or advocate for Tennessee’s public school teachers. Now, he confirms that in a revealing moment reported on by NewsChannel5’s Phil Williams.
In it, a key education advisor to Lee disparages teachers repeatedly while Lee sits in silence and nods in agreement.
Responses to Lee’s public confirmation of his disregard for teachers were swift, including this from his home county of Williamson:
The Democratic Party in Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s home county is calling on the governor to repudiate remarks made by a top education advisor. The Williamson County Democratic Party is also noting its stance in support of teachers in Williamson County and across Tennessee.
In an emailed statement, the group notes that it “stands in solidarity with public school teachers across Tennessee, especially those in Williamson County. Yesterday, Governor Bill Lee, a graduate of Franklin High School in Williamson County, nodded his head in agreement while an advisor of his was openly mocking public school teachers at an event for charter school teachers.”
Jenn Foley, chair of the Williamson County Democrats, said:
“We will not stay silent when our public school teachers have had two of the hardest years in recent history during the Covid pandemic. They have risked their lives to teach our children, and we must boldly stand up and support them now and every day. I have three kids in our wonderful public schools, and I know firsthand how hard they work for our families. We cannot allow our leadership to decimate our public schools.”
Courtenay Rogers, vice chair of the party and candidate for Williamson County Commission said:
“Families move to Williamson County because of the great quality of life and the excellent public education we provide our children. Our schools are one of the main reasons businesses choose to relocate to our community as well, and we need to be focused on increasing funding and improving teacher salaries and benefits, not calling our teachers dumb.”
JC Bowman, head of Professional Educators of Tennessee (PET) said in a tweet:
"Larry Arnn’s comments are reprehensible and irresponsible. What was even more hurtful than Arnn’s comments is that Tennessee Governor Bill Lee sat there while educators, Colleges of Education, and public education were disparaged. Bill Lee’s silence spoke volumes." pic.twitter.com/OONrt6v9Oa
Newly elected Tennessee Education Association President Tanya Coats said:
“Tennessee educators worked tirelessly through the past three school years to keep their students engaged, safe and healthy during a global pandemic. Many did so at the expense of their own health and wellbeing. To now witness their governor stand silently alongside out-of-state privatizers as they are cruelly and unfairly attacked feels like a punch to the gut. There is no excuse.
Our public school educators and teacher prep programs are the foundation of our state’s great public schools. Our governor would do well to remember that the continued success of our state is intrinsically tied to the success of our system of strong public schools, not charter schools.”
Lee’s silence and complicity in the denigration of teachers should come as no surprise. He’s repeatedly demonstrated his priority is on privatizing public schools. He’s also consistently shown his lack of respect for and appreciation of teachers.
Bill Lee ran a campaign predicated on the idea that our public schools were failing and the solution was/is charters and vouchers. He’s made good on that commitment as Governor. At this point, no one should be surprised that Bill Lee is nodding along as Tennessee’s public school educators are under attack.
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
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Yet another Tennessee school district has announced a temporary closure due to COVID-19. Sumner County Schools will close from Sept. 7-10 (next week) in order to attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19. The move comes as the Lee Administration continues to insist that children should be in school and is failing to cooperate with districts seeking remote learning options. As with other districts closing due to COVID, stockpiled inclement weather days will be used. To be clear: There will be no in-person instruction and no online/remote learning. Schools are simply closed.
The move also comes as health officials report that Tennessee has the highest rate of COVID infections in children in the nation:
Jamie Swift, the system’s Chief Infection Prevention Officer says Tennessee has the highest rate of cases in children per 100,000 across the country.
A group known as OneWillCo plans to be in attendance at tonight’s Williamson County School Board meeting to show support for efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in the district’s schools.
Here’s more from a press statement provided by the group:
A large group of parents and community members will show up at tonight’s school board meeting to show public support of the efforts by the WCS School Board and “Fostering Healthy Solutions” to promote diversity and equality in Williamson County Schools.
“We are anticipating a large show of support tonight to further the efforts that Williamson County Schools has already started,” said Jennifer Cortez, one of the founders of OneWillCo. “We are grateful to Superintendent Jason Golden and our school board for taking courageous and necessary steps to address the racial harassment that continues to be a blight on our local schools. Our focus is straightforward. We want reasonable measures put in place to give our students of color the value and support they have needed and deserved for far too long. The responsibility rests on our whole community to support these crucial efforts.”
The move from the group comes as issues around race and diversity are receiving increasing attention in Williamson County and across the state.
In fact, the Tennessee General Assembly passed legislation that specifically prohibits the teaching of so-called “Critical Race Theory.”
Legal scholars are questioning whether a recently passed bill that seeks to restrict Tennessee educators’ teachings about race and racism will pass legal muster given past precedent, including one case that dates back 50 years.
The GOP-backed measure, which passed in the Tennessee House and Senate among partisan lines, would penalize school districts if teachers tie past and present events to white privilege, institutional racism, and unconscious bias.
“This is a poorly written bill that promotes a specific agenda, threatens academic freedom, and suffers from serious overbreadth and vagueness problems,” said Hudson, a law professor at Belmont University who specializes in first amendment issues.
Not surprisingly, state Senator Brian Kelsey and the law firm where he works support the measure:
One organization that supports the bill is the Chicago-based Liberty Justice Center, a public interest firm where State Senator Brian Kelsey of Germantown serves as a senior attorney. Kelsey supported the Senate version of the bill.
A number of groups across the state are actively encouraging Gov. Bill Lee to veto the measure. These groups include NOAH (Nashville), MICAH (Memphis), and CALEB (Chattanooga) as well as the Tennessee Educators of Color Alliance, the Tennessee Education Association, and the ACLU.
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
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