School board members voice concerns for Gov. Lee’s voucher plan

JACKSON, Tenn. — Jackson-Madison County School Board members met to discuss Gov. Bill Lee’s latest proposal for the Tennessee Education Freedom Act.

“The proposal is said to make 20,000 scholarships available next year, with half going to students who are lower income and the remaining 10,000 to any student who attends a public school,” said Sherry Franks, who is in District 5, Position 1 of the school board.

Board members say the attempt is to address children in poverty but this funding won’t be enough to cover the full tuition of private schools.

“Kids that are economically struggling in their homes that you’re going to give the money to most of the time you don’t have secondary means to take them somewhere, transportation to get them to the school,” Franks said.

The district says the proposal does not clearly define how it will work.

“If you’re talking about the opportunity to go to the private school, there is a cost differential between what the voucher is going to give them and what the cost is going to be,” Franks said.

They also voice that pop-up schools might be a concern because state leaders have not spoken of regulations and if they are required to have accredited teachers or a curriculum that is state approved.

They also feel selections for the vouchers will be based on the top children and fear the public schools’ scoring will decline.

The school board fears not only funding being taken away for public schools but more importantly, believes they would lose students.

“We are concerned with the financial impact. We are even more concerned where these children are going to be when they are in a program like this for a year. Are they going to be up with us or are they going to come back and be another year behind,” Franks said.

There was discussion of the money instead being used to fund universal pre-k to prevent students from getting behind at the start of their education.

Members also argue state leaders have not addressed special needs, diversity, or accountability.

A resolution will be drafted and presented at the city council meeting on Monday.

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