Another Free Lunch Story

Will Bill Lee and the GOP kill free school lunch . . . again?

I’m guessing the answer is yes.

Rep. John Ray Clemmons has been trying to pass legislation that would make school meals free for all kids since 2018.

Standing in his way: Republicans.

Gov. Bill Lee wants to spend $150 million to start a universal school voucher scheme that could cost more than $700 million a year at full implementation.

He gave $500 million to the Tennessee Titans for a new (smaller) stadium.

He handed out $1.6 billion in corporate tax breaks.

And yet he has not (yet) taken a bold stand in favor of free school meals for all kids.

That, though, has not deterred Rep. Clemmons and legislative Democrats.

Rather than fund school lunches or boost teacher pay or invest in Medicaid expansion, or end the grocery tax, lawmakers have found a dizzying array of ways to reduce revenue by lowering or eliminating taxes paid by the wealthy or corporations.

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Rejecting Trump

Teachers offer strong resistance to Trump education agenda

Response to Donald Trump’s nomination of Linda McMahon to lead the Department of Education has been swift. And mixed. Why there isn’t more fierce resistance is a bit of a mystery. Perhaps education groups are afraid of her powerful wrestling moves (she was once CEO of WWE). Or, maybe some groups want to still be in line to receive DOE grants.

In any case, the National Education Association was clear in their opposition to McMahon and to their plans for open resistance:

“Parents and educators will stand together to support students and reject the harmful, outlandish, and insulting policies being pushed by the Trump administration. They will make their voices heard, just as they did by resoundingly defeating vouchers in states like Colorado, Kentucky, and Nebraska.  

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Insulting

Trump’s pick to head Dept. of Ed is former CEO of wrestling business

Gov. Bill Lee was quick to indicate his support for Donald Trump’s selection of Linda McMahon to head the U.S. Department of Education.

This is not exactly surprising. Despite Trump calling Lee a “RINO,” Lee trips all over himself to curry favor with Trump.

Plus, Lee and Trump (and McMahon) have the same goal: Privatizing public schools by way of voucher schemes.

Peter Greene notes of McMahon:

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.

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Andy Beshear for President?

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Beshear for President?

A public school defender makes a case for the White House

While TN’s Gov. Bill Lee is busy cozying up to incoming President Donald Trump‘s terrible ideas, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is making the rounds and making a strong case for a pro-public school President.

Beshear recently penned a New York Times OpEd proposing a way forward for national Democrats and then appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation and made the case that he could be the face and voice of that path.

Central to Beshear’s appeal in Kentucky is his vigorous defense of public education. He’s proposed boosting teacher pay significantly. He’s also been a vocal opponent of school vouchers – and Kentucky voters re-elected him by 5 points in 2023 and then rejected school vouchers by a 65-35 margin in 2024. They also voted for Trump by a 2-1 margin.

Beshear wins in a Trump +30 state because he defends local public schools. As he notes, he’s also a strong supporter of reproductive freedom and a defender of LGBT+ rights. By focusing on a “we’re all in this together” attitude, Beshear showing how Democrats can both advance a progressive agenda and win elections.

Support for public schools is a key element of that playbook.

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Bill Lee Backs Bad Ideas

He wants the cash without the accountability

It’s not really surprising that Bill Lee is supporting incoming President Donald Trump’s bad ideas. That said, the impact on students in Tennessee schools could be devastating.

To be clear: The leader of a state that earns an “F” grade in investment in students, is near the bottom in the nation (and the Southeast) for teacher compensation, and consistently fails its most vulnerable students wants to remove all guardrails and just be trusted to “do what’s best?”

While it is not yet clear if Trump will actually dissolve the Department of Education, powering the agency down as he’s suggested could remove key protections for students with disabilities. It could also drastically alter how funding for low-income students is distributed.

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Will 2025 be The Year of the Voucher in Tennessee?

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Voters Don’t Like Vouchers

But Bill Lee does

The top priority of Gov. Lee and his legislative allies in the 2025 General Assembly is passing a universal school voucher scheme.

It was the first bill filed for the upcoming session.

For the entirety of his time in office – since 2018 – Lee has been pushing to privatize the state’s public schools. And, it seems he just won’t stop.

Interestingly, anytime vouchers are put to a public vote, they fail. It happened in Kentucky, a state that voted 65-35 for Trump – and 65-35 against school vouchers.

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.

Still, Bill Lee persists.

Gov. Bill Lee promoting school privatization

Teachers Brace for Second Trump Term

Insight from educators on what Trump 2.0 may mean for schools

Trump is back, and some former educators think that may mean an expediting of the current teacher exodus.

These moves would gut public education, imperil our most vulnerable students, and move us closer to a dystopia in which education is little more than childcare and teaching a low-skilled, low-paid job where EdTech bots “teach” and humans merely supervise.

Quinn wonders what will happen at the end of another four years of Trump:

If the teaching profession is gutted, as it likely will be, and if a mass exodus occurs, which is likely may—what will be left of our education system? And what will happen to our young people in it, the most vulnerable of whom will be most deeply impacted?

Also, will Betsy DeVos come back? Or, will a pro-voucher governor like Bill Lee take on the Ed Secretary role?

Betsy DeVos testifies before the Senate Health, Education and Labor Committee confirmation hearing to be next Secretary of Education on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

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Voters Reject School Vouchers

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Swift Opposition to Lee’s Voucher Scam

Zombie Vouchers

They just won’t go away

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.

Again.

They won’t stop.

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.

Legislative Democrats were quick to speak out against Lee’s insistence on bringing vouchers back from the dead:

“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.”

Gov. Bill Lee promoting school privatization

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This One’s for Kevin

Former Ed Commissioner searches for relevance with worn out ideas

Tennessee’s former Education Commissioner, Kevin Huffman, is still sharking around education waters, peddling terrible ideas and being paid handsomely.

Yes, that Kevin Huffman. He’s now calling for a federal focus on education that would return test-and-punish principles and prescribe teaching methods.

We’ve seen his game before:

That’s right. Kevin Huffman blamed TN’s relatively low ranking on standardized tests on teachers – and not on the state’s chronically low investment in schools. Did nothing to push new investment in schools. Failed to deliver on promised new teacher development programs. Promised teachers a pay raise and then failed to deliver. Pushed a charter advancement agenda that, as Green’s column notes, caused “more harm than good.” Never apologized for any of it.

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Vouchers are Wildly Expensive

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