Mandy Cook is the Democratic candidate for State Representative in House District 45.
She took some time to answer questions about her position on key education issues.
1) What is your connection to education? I have a son who will be 5 years old in December. He is currently in pre-K and fall of 2027 will be his first year in Kindergarten. I attended public schools growing up.
2) What do you feel is great about Sumner County Schools? We moved to Sumner County knowing we wanted to start a family one day. Sumner County has a reputation for fantastic public schools including magnet school options like Merrol Hyde and Union.
3) What are your goals for Tennessee public education? I want to see the voucher program phased out and reinvest those funds into public education throughout the state. In recent years, Tennessee has lost more teachers than any other state in the country. We are failing teachers and students by not investing properly in public education and public educators.
4) Tennessee is last in the nation in investment in schools – nearly $2 billion below Mississippi. What should the state do to improve its support for schools? Properly funding our schools should be one of our state legislature’s top priorities. This past legislative session, we saw millions of our tax dollars poured into wasteful bills that do nothing to improve the lives of Tennesseans- bills renaming parts of foreign countries (HB 1446) and a mid-decade redistricting bill (HB 7001 through HB 7005). State legislators are wasting our hard-earned tax dollars on culture wars and school vouchers. We need to get people in office who understand the value of investing in Tennessee’s future. That means spending legislative time well and spending tax dollars wisely.
5) What new programs or improvements for K-12 education are important to you? As a parent who struggles to pay for pre-K for my own child, I am a strong advocate for publicly-funded pre-K expansion. Our state currently offers Voluntary Pre-K options publicly. The program prioritizes children of lower-income families, but as more and more families struggle with the cost of living, I believe we should be expanding access. Data consistently shows that children who receive education prior to Kindergarten perform better throughout their schooling. Strengthening access to Pre-K not only benefits working parents and their employers, but benefits a child’s long term education.
6) What’s your position on the state’s voucher program? Do you believe the $300 million the state has allocated to vouchers is a wise investment? Vouchers were sold to Tennesseans in a disingenuous way, and they have failed our state since materializing. The data is clear. School vouchers are failing. Most school voucher recipients are kids whose families were able to afford private school prior to them receiving a discount. In addition, they are not performing as well as their public school peers. Tennessee’s education system is truly in the midst of a crisis, and it’s no coincidence that it is happening after school vouchers were introduced.
7) The state has a $1.2 billion surplus – do you believe some or all of that money should go to public education? Financial solvency is great news! However, our state funding for road infrastructure is about to face a sizable deficit. My fear is that roads and schools will be battling it out for proper funding. We need multiple forward-thinking policies to address Tennessee’s fiscal needs, including legalizing and taxing cannabis. Yes, available surplus money would be well-spent on public education, but we also need permanent and annual public schools investment.
