Tennessee’s Governor’s race is set – it will be attorney and Memphis City Councilwoman Jerri Green on the Democratic side and U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn as the GOP nominee.
Blackburn is a staunch supporter of school voucher schemes – she’s voted for Trump’s federal school voucher plan and vows to continue rapid expansion of Tennessee’s school voucher scheme. The current Tennessee private school discount plan costs the state $300 million and diverts millions in taxpayer dollars to a vendor that oversees the program.
School privatizers from across the country have shown up strong in support of Blackburn.
The youngest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton is now on the Marsha Blackburn bandwagon.
The latest campaign financial report indicates that pro-Blackburn Team Tennessee PAC received $100,000 from Walton in the last reporting period.
Walton joins payday predators Advance Financial, Pennsylvania billionaire and privatization advocate Jeff Yass, the CEO of Jimmy John’s, and General Motors in supporting Blackburn and her reverse Robinhood economic and education agenda.
Blackburn has pledged to further expand Tennessee’s $300 million school voucher scheme if the 74-year-old career politician wins the Governor’s race.
By contrast, Jerri Green has said she would pause expansion of the voucher scheme and has announced a broad agenda for improving public education.
Green says she will:
- Fully fund K-12 public education—not siphon dollars into unaccountable voucher schemes
- Raise teacher pay and restore respect to the profession
- Expand access to school counselors, nurses, and support staff
- Protect honest, inclusive education—not censorship and political theater
- Invest in universal pre-K, special education, and rural schools
- Launch Public Service Year Program for high school graduates
