Controversial education bill excludes Jackson-Madison Co. schools

JACKSON, Tenn. — The Tennessee senate passed Gov. Bill Lee’s Education Savings Account bill Thursday morning by a 20 to 13 margin.

The Education Savings Account is a controversial school voucher-style system. It allows families below a certain income level to use public money for their school supplies. Some parents may choose to pay for private school with it.

However, Jackson-Madison County schools were excluded from the bill.

“… reasonable improvements in the last year, year and a half, in Madison County, so we were able to work them out of that portion of the ESA bill,” said state Rep. Chris Todd, who voted for the House version of the bill.

Rep. Todd says Thursday’s legislation does hold benefits for the county, thanks to new grant money available.

“So every year, there will be an increasing pot of money available to school systems like Madison County to tap into for school improvements,” Todd said.

The amount of money will depend on how many in the counties actually utilize the program.

“It depends on how many participants there are in these four LEAs, where parents can choose to participate,” Todd said.

Rep. Todd also defended the bill against the protests of potentially using public money to help pay for private schools.

“Private contractors across the state get public money. It’s state tax dollars. That’s just the way it works. We use private entities to provide services to the citizens,” Todd said.

The Senate version of the bill only applies to Shelby and Davidson counties, while the House applies to Knox and Hamilton counties as well.

Committees from both chambers will meet next week to resolve differences between the two pieces of legislation.