Category Archives: Vouchers

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No Bid? No Surprise!

At a legislative committee meeting Monday, it was revealed that the contract that outsourced administration of the Education Savings Account (ESA) voucher scheme was awarded without competitive bidding. Chalkbeat has more:


A legislative review of new voucher rules gave Mitchell and other Democrats an opportunity to grill state education officials for almost two hours on Monday about details for the program’s start.


Among the revelations: The department did not go through a competitive bidding process or the legislature’s fiscal review committee to secure its contract with ClassWallet.

The lack of adherence to bidding procedures should come as no surprise as Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn faced similar challenges when she held a senior level position in the Texas Education Agency:


On November 21, 2017, then-Texas special education director, Laurie Kash, blew the whistle on the Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) entering into a $4.4M no-bid contract with a special education data collecting company, SPEDx; she filed a report with the US Department of Education (USDOE) Office of Inspector General (OIG).

Kash’s supervisor? Penny Schwinn.

In short, Schwinn is doing what she’s always done: Bending the rules to serve her needs.

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Vouchers and Taxes

The Associated Press is reporting that after much debate, Tennessee’s school voucher plan (education savings accounts) will be counted as taxable income for some families.


Tennessee’s top education officials say a small number of parents who participate in the state’s latest school voucher imitative might be taxed for participating in the program.


The development on Monday comes after months of debate between policy officials, education advocates and lawmakers over whether the new school vouchers for private education will be considered federally taxable income for parents.

The announcement on taxes comes following a November statement by Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn that vouchers would be subject to taxes:


… Penny Schwinn dropped a bombshell yesterday when she told a legislative committee that the value of a voucher under the state’s new education savings account program would be considered taxable income for the purpose of federal taxes.

Following that announcement, Gov. Bill Lee said he didn’t believe the vouchers would be taxed. Now, it appears that at least for some recipients, accepting an education savings account will also mean accepting an increased tax burden.

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The Five Pillars of Privatization

Tennesseans for Student Success recently released a 2020 policy agenda and noted the following five pillars guiding this agenda:


Tennesseans for Student Success is kicking off the 2020 legislative session by outlining our policy pillars and how they affect student success. Our five pillars are higher academic standards, an aligned assessment to those standards, protecting accountability, innovation in education, and securing economic freedom for all. 

This sounds pretty nice, or at least rather innocuous. But, who is Tennesseans for Student Success? Here’s what their website says:


Tennesseans for Student Success is a statewide network of teachers, parents, community leaders, and volunteers who are dedicated to supporting, championing, and fighting for Tennessee’s students and their futures.

This sounds even better, right? Look! It’s everyone! All coming together to fight for our kids! We should ALL love TSS, right?!

Well, let’s take another look. It seems TSS is all about privatizing public schools. Sure, they attacked staunch public education defender and state representative Gloria Johnson a few years back. But, maybe that was an anomaly.

Then, of course, there are the candidates they strongly back.

It’s a who’s who of school voucher backers.

TSS has consistently indicated support for voucher-backers like Senators Dolores Gresham and Brian Kelsey. And, they’ve taken out ads against Republicans who dare stand in the way of Gov. Lee and the school privatization agenda:

The five pillars of TSS are nothing more than the five horsemen of the public education apocalypse. Standards and Assessment simply mean ever more testing. Protecting Accountability means using voodoo science to evaluate (and remove) teachers and keep salaries (costs) low. Education “innovation” means charter schools and vouchers (as seen in the ads above). Economic freedom for all is nothing more than saying the “market” is what should guide education policy — it’s saying we should privatize above all.

TSS is, in fact, non-partisan. They’ll attack anyone, Republican or Democrat, who stands in the way of letting privatizing profiteers get their hands on public schools.

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57 Hands Out

There are 57 private schools who have taken the first step toward receiving public support for their operations, according to a story in Chalkbeat. The news comes as Governor Lee continues to ramp up his Education Savings Account voucher scheme. The vote to authorize the plan remains under investigation by the TBI and the FBI.

From Chalkbeat:


At least 57 private schools have taken the first formal step to participate in Tennessee’s new voucher program beginning with the upcoming school year.


Leaders for 30 schools in the Memphis area, 26 in the Nashville area, and one in Knoxville have completed the state’s online form indicating their intent to participate. The list is based on information provided to Chalkbeat by the Department of Education through a public records request.

Here’s the list of those schools seeking taxpayer support without any real accountability:

Memphis area

  • Bodine School, Germantown
  • Bornblum Jewish Community School, Memphis
  • Brinkley Heights Urban Academy, Memphis
  • Central Baptist School, Memphis
  • Christian Brothers High School, Memphis
  • Christ the King Lutheran School, Memphis
  • Collegiate School of Memphis
  • Creative Life Inc., Memphis
  • Evangelical Christian School, Cordova
  • Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal School, Memphis
  • Greater Praise Christian Academy, Memphis
  • Immaculate Conception Cathedral School, Memphis
  • Immanuel Lutheran School, Memphis
  • Incarnation Catholic School, Collierville
  • Harding Academy of Memphis
  • Holy Rosary Catholic School, Memphis
  • Hutchison School, Memphis
  • Memphis Heritage Christian School, Memphis
  • Pleasant View School, Memphis
  • Presbyterian Day School, Memphis
  • SE Academy Independent School, Memphis
  • Sensational Enlightenment, Memphis
  • St. Ann Catholic School, Bartlett
  • St. Benedict at Auburndale, Cordova
  • St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School, Cordova
  • St. George’s Independent School, Collierville
  • St. Louis Catholic School, Memphis
  • St. Paul Catholic School, Memphis
  • Woodland Presbyterian School, Memphis
  • Word of Faith Christian Academy, Memphis

Nashville area

  • Akiva School, Nashville
  • Benton Hall Academy, Nashville
  • Born Again Christian Academy, Nashville
  • Christ the King School, Nashville
  • Dayspring Academy, Greenbrier
  • Ezell-Harding Christian School, Antioch
  • Gateway Academy, Nashville
  • Lighthouse Christian School, Antioch
  • Linden Waldorf School, Nashville
  • Hendersonville Christian Academy, Hendersonville
  • Holy Rosary Academy, Nashville
  • Montessori East, Nashville
  • Montgomery Bell Academy, Nashville
  • Pleasant View Christian School, Pleasant View
  • Pope John Paul II High School, Hendersonville
  • St. Ann School, Nashville
  • St. Henry School, Nashville
  • St. John Vianney School, Gallatin
  • St. Rose of Lima Catholic School, Murfreesboro
  • St. Clement Coptic Orthodox Christian Academy, Nashville
  • St. Edward School, Nashville
  • St. Joseph School, Madison
  • St. Matthew School, Franklin
  • St. Pius X Classical Academy, Nashville
  • South Haven Christian School, Springfield
  • Templeton Academy, Nashville

Elsewhere

  • First Lutheran School, Knoxville

The voucher plan is facing a serious repeal effort and also threatens to divide Republicans, at least in the House.




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Exacerbate

Dr. Bill Smith writes in the Johnson City Press that the General Assembly’s recent education policies will only exacerbate inequality.


Crowe, a 28-year veteran of the General Assembly and member of the Senate Education Committee, and his colleagues have grotesquely underfunded the BEP in recent years, and the money diverted to vouchers will exacerbate this shortcoming. Tennessee is 45th nationally in per-pupil funding and well below the Southeastern average. Expanding the voucher program will compromise funding for public education even more, and local schools will surely feel the impact.


In a May 1 article, The Tennessean reported that last year’s voucher law could cost $330 million by 2024, money that could be used instead to improve education across the state. Further, if we’ve learned anything over the years about school funding and the achievement gap, it’s that the children who most need our embrace are the ones who suffer most when educational funding is inadequate.

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Team Lee Staffs Up with more Voucher Vultures

Governor Bill Lee’s administration is adding more voucher advocates to the mix as Lee continues to pursue a policy of “disruption” rather than investment and support when it comes to public education. Chalkbeat has more on the new staffers:


Gov. Bill Lee’s administration is hiring three more leaders with ties to groups that lobby for school vouchers and charter schools.


Gillum Ferguson, recently communications director for the American Federation for Children in Tennessee, is Lee’s interim press secretary.


Charlie Bufalino, director of policy and strategy for TennesseeCAN, will become the Department of Education’s chief liaison to state lawmakers on legislation and policy.


Chelsea Crawford, who has served as TennesseeCAN’s media contact, will lead communications for the education department.


The hires are expected to further expand the influence of organizations advocating for hot-button education policies such as vouchers and charter schools. 

As Lee was first building his senior staff in late 2018, his early hires reflected a push toward school privatization:


As Governor-elect Bill Lee staffs up ahead of taking office in January, he’s making it clear he plans to push forward heavily on vouchers. He’s already named one key voucher backer to a top policy role and now, he’s announced his Legislative Director will be the former Director of Students First/Tennessee CAN.

Lee has so far made good on his promise to deliver vouchers and charters to Tennessee, securing passage of a voucher bill by a narrow margin and also aggressively pushing charter schools.

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MCS Takes Stand Against Vouchers

The Murfreesboro City School Board has outlined top legislative priorities for 2020 and shared them with local legislators, reports the Murfreesboro Post. The agenda includes opposition to school vouchers and a call for a reduction in state testing.


Vouchers — The Murfreesboro City School Board opposes any legislation or effort to create or expand programs that would divert money intended for public education to private schools or organizations.


Equity of Assessment — The Murfreesboro City School Board urges the General Assembly to require any private education institution receiving funds through the Education Savings Account program to be held to the same testing requirements as public schools. Currently, only the children receiving vouchers are tested; the schools they are attending are not. Therefore, all children in receiving schools should be tested just as are all children in public schools are tested. Without such testing, comparisons are invalid.


Reduction of Testing — The Murfreesboro City School Board encourages legislation that changes requirements of assessments to math and ELA in grades 3-8; science at least once during grades 3-5, grades 6-9 and grades 10-12.

The renewed opposition to vouchers comes as a new report reveals fraud in the state’s existing, limited voucher program. It also comes while Gov. Bill Lee is seeking to fast-track his voucher scheme. The ESA voucher bill was passed by one vote in the House last session and that vote is now facing both FBI and TBI investigations.

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They Were Warned

Back in 2015 when the Tennessee General Assembly passed the first round of voucher legislation limited to a select group of students, opponents of the plan warned that the program as designed would be susceptible to fraud. Now, a new report from the Associated Press confirms those fears.


Some Tennessee parents were accused of misspending thousands of dollars in school voucher funds while using state-issued debit cards over the past school year, a review by The Associated Press has found, and state officials say they do not know what many of those purchases were for.

In 2015, I wrote:


A similar program in Florida, started in 1999, has been expanding rapidly. And, it’s been subject to fraud. When asked about what safeguards Tennessee’s plan will have, the sponsors said that the bill calls on the departments of education and health to qualify vendors. When asked what standards may be used to qualify vendors, the sponsors said they didn’t know.


When asked if the money will be distributed as a debit card or a bank account or a voucher, the sponsors didn’t know.

It’s almost as if the bill’s sponsors should have cleared these matters up BEFORE barreling ahead with legislation that led to problems in other states. Instead, here we are.

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It’s the Air Filters

While Tennessee has a clear need for school infrastructure upgrades, especially as it relates to lead in water, it’s also worth noting that improving air quality in schools could have tremendous benefits for students — both in terms of health and academics. A new study highlighted in Vox notes that student achievement improves when schools install air filters.


The impact of the air filters is strikingly large given what a simple change we’re talking about. The school district didn’t reengineer the school buildings or make dramatic education reforms; they just installed $700 commercially available filters that you could plug into any room in the country. But it’s consistent with a growing literature on the cognitive impact of air pollution, which finds that everyone from chess players to baseball umpires to workers in a pear-packing factory suffer deteriorations in performance when the air is more polluted.

A study following the installation of the air filters noted a significant impact on student performance:


He finds that math scores went up by 0.20 standard deviations and English scores by 0.18 standard deviations, and the results hold up even when you control for “detailed student demographics, including residential ZIP Code fixed effects that help control for a student’s exposure to pollution at home.”

These findings are consistent with other data on the subject:

But Sefi Roth of the London School of Economics studied university students’ test performance relative to air pollution levels on the day of the test alone. He found that taking a test in a filtered rather than unfiltered room would raise test scores by 0.09 standard deviations. That’s about half the impact Gilraine found, just based on day-of-test air quality. In Gilraine’s natural experiment, students benefited from cleaner air for about four months. Given that context, it’s not incredibly surprising that you could see an impact that’s about twice as large.

So, a relatively inexpensive change in schools could have a big, positive impact on every student in the state. By contrast, school vouchers represent a very expensive intervention that negatively impacts participating students:


Recent data from the non-partisan Brookings Institute, for example, shows that four rigorous studies done in Louisiana, Washington, D.C., Indiana and Ohio found that struggling students who use vouchers to attend private schools perform worse on achievement tests than struggling students in public schools.  

So, will the Tennessee General Assembly repeal the voucher legislation and move forward with a plan to add air filters to classrooms?

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Bill Lee’s 2020 Vision Blurred by Voucher Scheme

Governor Bill Lee renewed his commitment to fast-tracking the privatization of public schools in a speech in Jackson where he laid out his policy goals for 2020. Lee doubled-down on support of a voucher scheme that is dividing the state Republican Party. The vote on Lee’s controversial plan remains under investigation by both the FBI and TBI. Here’s more on Lee’s remarks from LocalMemphis.com:


The Governor said this year, he’s also optimistic the first Shelby County students in low-achieving public schools will be eligible for an education savings account to cover tuition for private school. SCS leaders opposed vouchers, and the legislation narrowly passed last year.


“Those children who are zoned for those non-performing schools will have an opportunity to have a high-quality education, hopefully starting this fall if that process is rolled out in the way that we hope it will be,” Gov. Lee said.

Lee failed to mention that vouchers have not been proven to help students academically. In fact, there’s growing evidence that voucher schemes actually have a negative academic impact. Neither actual evidence nor the existence of an FBI probe into the vote seems likely to deter Lee from pursuing an agenda that will both cost taxpayers money and actually harm students.

Those following Lee and his alliance with privatizers like Education Secretary Betsy DeVos over the years are not surprised by his antics. In fact, in December of 2018, I noted:


Even though as early as 2016, Bill Lee was extolling the virtues of school voucher schemes and even though he’s a long-time supporter of Betsy DeVos’s pro-voucher Tennessee Federation for Children and even though he has appointed not one, but two voucher vultures to high level posts in his Administration, it is somehow treated as “news” that Bill Lee plans to move forward with a voucher scheme agenda in 2019.

Now, here we are in 2020. Let’s be sure Tennesseans have a clear vision of where Gov. Lee is taking us: Directly down the very expensive road to the privatization of our public schools.

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