Local officials react to Education Freedom Act’s passing

JACKSON, Tenn. — The Education Freedom Act was passed by the legislature in Nashville on Thursday, with plenty of discussion about it over the last few months.

The bill passed in both the house and senate with a 54 to 44 vote in the house, and a 20 to 13 vote in the senate. Governor Bill Lee said this following the votes.

“I have said all along that we could and should have the best public schools in America and provide parents with choice, and we’ve done that. It is, in fact a momentous day for students and for teachers and parents across Tennessee.”

Tanya Coats is the president of the Tennessee Education Association. She said this to us in response to the vote.

“It was just very sad that we’ve heard from educators across the state that it was disheartening to know that our legislators, or at least 54 of them, decided against our own constituents across the state of Tennessee.”

Many people have certainly expressed their disagreement to this bill. However, Gov. Lee said in a statement that Tennesseans overwhelmingly support the legislation that addresses three issues, one of which being the Education Freedom Act.

Recently, the University School of Jackson sent out a statement to their families saying that they,

“Understand that any increased state involvement in private education could introduce bureaucratic requirements and regulations that might impede our ability to maintain the high-quality education we provide.”

They also went on to say that they do not intend to take an official position as a school regarding the legislation at this time.

For this upcoming school year, a total of 20,000 scholarships will be available to Tennessee students. The scholarships will be around $7,000 per student. Governor Lee went to Washington Friday to join President Trump and other governors at the White House to mark National School Choice Week.

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